Kill Gendou
by Oog
Summary: Betrayed and left for dead by her so called “friends,” Asuka returns, carving a path of vengeance through Tokyo 3. But can she truly hope to triumph over forces that she cannot comprehend?
1. Vol 1: Betrayal

**EDIT NOTE: **This chapter has been revised and edited as of February 11, 2005. No major details were changed, just slight re-wording and grammatical fixes.

All characters, trademarks, song titles, etc. are from Neon Genesis: Evangelion and some other assorted animes and such, and are thereby properties of Gainax or whatever company has the copyright. That means I don't own them, because I am not cool enough to be in any way affiliated with Gainax or ADV or anything like that. So don't sue me, you greedy bastards.

The story has kind of an abstract timeframe; I'd say it picks up somewhere in the general area toward the end of the series, when Asuka starts losing it and becomes jealous of Shinji. Knowledge of Kill Bill is not necessary, but it could help.

If you are squeamish and/or are disturbed by thought of the characters you know and love turning evil and dying violently, this story is not for you. Violence, gore, profanity, implied sexual situations, etc; definitely an R rating for this one. If you've seen Kill Bill, you get the idea.

You have been warned. Are you still with me? Good, then here we go:

**_Kill Gendou_**

_**Volume One**_

"Can we really do this, Commander?" Ritsuko asked, raising an eyebrow and looking across the desk at Commander Gendou Ikari.

"The Second Child has become intolerably unstable," Gendou replied, his stern voice echoing briefly throughout his office. "The security risk is unacceptable. This is a problem, and problems must be dealt with. There are no other factors to consider."

"Perhaps. But isn't this a little… excessive?"

"Irrelevant. Termination is the most expedient solution, and it must be done in a manner that does not cause suspicion with SEELE."

"I suppose you're right," Ritsuko conceded with a sigh, looking down at the floor for a moment.

A sudden thought interrupted her private musings.

. "Major Katsuragi won't like this," she said, raising her head back up to meet Gendou's gaze.

"She will accept it nonetheless," the commander declared. "Otherwise she is to be considered expendable as well. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Commander," Ritsuko replied, removing her glasses and walking around the desk to sit on Gendou's lap, straddling him. "I understand. But first, you'll have to do something for me…"

Asuka sat patiently in the entry plug of Unit 02, gazing out at the empty sea. Little waves rolled calmly ashore, splashing lightly against the pale sand. A few seagulls circled here and there in the hopes of scavenging some tasty morsel, discarded by humans and their inherently wasteful nature. Units 00 and 01 stood flanking her, also motionless. Tranquility reigned supreme.

"Are you sure there's an Angel out here?" Asuka whined. "We've been waiting here for almost an hour, and all I've seen is a bunch of stupid birds."

She was tense, on edge; having been outperformed by Shinji as of late, she was determined to prove her worth as an EVA pilot. When the opportunity to take point on a mission such as this had come up, she had seized the opportunity as a chance to redeem herself.

_But how am I supposed to do that when the enemy won't even show its ugly face? _she wondered.

"Be patient, Asuka," Ritsuko chided over the com. "It's there, but there's nothing we can do until it decides to surface. You remember what happened last time you fought an Angel at sea, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah," Asuka grumbled. "I know. B-type equipment."

Ritsuko switched off the com, turning to her assistant, Maya Ibuki.

"Set plug trajectory for 62 degrees," she said. "I want estimated point of submergence at coordinates one-seven-zero-four, nine-seven-zero-nine."

"Ma'am, I'm really not sure about this," Maya protested. "It just doesn't seem-"

"We already had this discussion," Ritsuko interrupted. "Just do it."

"Yes ma'am," her aide acknowledged. "No scruples."

Maya's hands sprang into action, flitting about her keyboard in obedience.

"Thrust ratio set to 17.9," she said. "Adjusting vector to compensate for wind resistance."

"Good," Ritsuko said, looking up at Gendou, seated in his usual position on the bridge. "Everything is ready, Commander."

Fuyutsuki leaned over from his place at Gendou's side, keeping his voice low.

"Are you absolutely certain about this?" he asked.

"The decision has been made," Gendou replied. "A broken tool must be discarded. And this tool is clearly broken."

With two gloved fingers he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"Do it."

Bored, Asuka counted the seagulls again for what seemed like the millionth time.

_Eins, zwei, drei…_

Without warning, an error message flashed across the inner surface of the entry plug. She jerked up from her slouched position, fully alert.

"Huh? Eject command received! Don't eject, you stupid piece of junk, how am I supposed to fight the Angel if I'm ejected?"

Another message replaced the eject command.

"Ballast tanks depressurizing? What's going on?"

There was an audible hiss as the plug obeyed. Asuka thought back to her college physics class.

_If the ballast tanks depressurize and the entry plug ejects into the ocean…_

"Scheisse!" she cried, pounding her fist on the emergency override panel. "Cancel eject sequence! Manual override! Obey me, damn you!"

Yet another message appeared on the plug's walls.

"External override? Verdammt! Misato! Ritsuko! What's going on!"

No response.

"Goddamnit, I said answer me!"

Ritsuko's voice came over the com, but her words were not addressed to Asuka.

"Shinji, Rei, prepare for manual retrieval of Unit 02."

They voiced their confirmation. Asuka pounded her fist on the override again, desperate.

Another voice crackled over the com, finally directed at Asuka. It was Misato; her voice was cold, distant.

"Goodbye, Asuka."

Asuka opened her mouth to respond, but was cut short as the force of the ejection slammed her head into the entry plug's metal lining. The LCL slowed her movement somewhat, but the impact was still hard enough to stun her momentarily, stars flashing across her vision. She felt another jerk as the plug splashed into the ocean, abruptly slowing its momentum.

A cold lump settled in the pit of her stomach as the reality of her situation sank in. There was nothing she could do. The entry plug was slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean. She was trapped.

The cold lump quickly faded away, replaced by a burning rage. She had long ago resigned herself to the possibility of death, and it had lost its power over her. She had always known she might die fighting the Angels. But to be killed like this, betrayed by her fellow humans, by her very own _comrades_…

"I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you…"

The words came from the very depths of her soul. It didn't matter how ridiculous it seemed. At this time, in this place, from the essence of her very being, Asuka Langley Sohryu swore revenge. Someday, somehow, she swore to hunt down the people who had done this to her. They would pay dearly; oh yes, she would make sure of that.

The hatch opened. Water rushed in, quickly displacing the LCL and slamming into her like a freight train. Asuka's thoughts washed away in the torrential current, and she knew no more.

Gendou Ikari sat facing the main viewscreen, his hands folded at his chin. His face held no expression, no clue to his inner thoughts or feelings.

"Pilot life signs read at zero," Shigeru Aoba reported.

"It is done, then," Gendou said.

"Yes," Ritsuko said. "At that depth, no human could survive plug depressurization. Even if one wasn't crushed outright, the damage to the brain would be too severe for even the most basic motor functions."

Misato smiled slightly; she was starting to feel better already.

"I suppose we should start looking for a replacement," she said.

Ritsuko smiled back.

"I think you're right."

* * *

Darkness. It was everywhere, surrounding her. _Invading_ her.

She heard voices, but they were fuzzy, distant.

"_Poor girl. I heard they found her washed up on the beach. "_

_"Yes. She was in a terrible state. The doctors aren't sure how she survived, but she did."_

_"Even so, there isn't much chance that she'll ever wake up."_

_"Poor thing."_

Asuka's shattered mind processed none of the conversation, save for one word. Her lips moved, ever so slightly, as if repeating it.

_"Survived."_

* * *

**Tokyo-2 Community Hospital**

**Three Weeks Later**

Dr. Ritsuko Akagi strolled through the hospital corridor, her long lab coat brushing against her shapely legs. She whistled, an unusual behavior for her; but then, everyone at NERV had been acting a bit differently for the past couple weeks, as if the knowledge of what they had done was a secret pact, binding them together and reshaping their personalities. With a quick glance at the small plastic sign reading "217," Ritsuko stopped, stepping through the open door into the room beyond.

The still form of a fourteen-year-old girl lay on the bed, her long red hair bristling slightly in the current from the air conditioning. Ritsuko walked over to the bed, looking down at her.

"Asuka."

The heart monitor beeped, slowly, repeatedly, as Asuka's chest rhythmically rose and fell.

"I know you can hear me, Asuka," Ritsuko said. "I'm amazed you managed to survive. Truly, it is an impressive feat. You certainly are one tough little bitch."

She moved closer, brushing away a strand of red hair that had fallen over Asuka's cheek.

"It's unfortunate that things had to turn out like this," she continued. "But, you know… shit happens. Commander Ikari made his decision. I was just following orders. Although I can't say I didn't derive some small measure of enjoyment from pressing the override button."

She smiled.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you all this. I guess it's just the slightest hint of a guilty conscience. A person can never completely get rid of their conscience, you know. Even Commander Ikari, deep, deep, _deep _down in the bottom of his heart, feels some semblance of remorse for what he did to you."

Ritsuko shrugged.

"No matter. You'll be dead in a matter of minutes anyway, a coma victim dying tragically in her sleep. You should count your blessings. Dying in one's sleep is a far better alternative to being killed by an Angel. And with your pathetic piloting skills, it was only a matter of time before _that_ happened."

Asuka twitched, subtly, almost imperceptibly. The slightest curl of a lip; a casual observer would have mistaken it for some unconscious reaction, if they noticed it at all, but Ritsuko's professional eye recognized the act for what it truly was.

"See. You _can_ hear me."

Ritsuko's personal communicator beeped. Removing the device from the clip at her waist, she glanced at the screen.

"I'll be right back."

She began walking out the door, then stopped, glancing back at the comatose girl with a smirk.

"Don't go anywhere."

* * *

Shinji Ikari crept through the empty hall, glancing nervously from side to side. He wasn't sure why he felt so apprehensive; after all, no one in the hospital would recognize him. He supposed it was just his nature.

He crept from room to room, peering through each open door until he came to the one he was looking for. Peeking around the corner, he observed the inert figure of a certain red-haired girl.

Shinji entered the room slowly, taking small steps toward the bed.

"A-Asuka?" he said quietly.

No response.

Taking a few more steps, Shinji repeated himself in a slightly louder voice.

"Asuka?"

Still no response.

He reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder, softly shaking her.

"Asuka, wake up."

Shinji gazed down at her, remembering all the times he had shared with her. The battles they had fought, both with and against each other. He remembered her smile, her laugh; he also remembered her frown, and the way her eyes seemed to light up when she was angry. In this moment Shinji recalled the very essence of Asuka Langley Sohryu as he knew her.

He shook her again, harder.

"Asuka, wake up."

His thumb caught the fabric of her hospital gown as he pulled his hand away, tugging the thin material aside and exposing her breasts to the cool air.

Shinji could not help but stare. It seemed like an innocent mistake, but a small part of his mind seemed to be telling him that this was no accident. He had willed this to happen.

Turning away, Shinji moved toward the door as if to leave. He poked his head out into the hallway, checking both directions. The hall was empty.

He grasped the handle firmly, then pulled the door shut. The locking mechanism clicked as he slid it into place, securing the room from outside intrusions.

Shinji turned to face the bed once again, staring intently at the young woman lying there, helpless. The fear drained from his eyes, replaced by something else. Something primal.

Shinji stalked toward the bed, slowly, deliberately. He smiled.

"I mustn't run away…"

* * *

Ritsuko Akagi paced along the row of bushes just outside the hospital's rear entrance, pausing to toss her cigarette butt on the sidewalk. Grinding the smoldering stub beneath a heel, she lifted her communicator to eye level, glancing at the screen.

"Asshole," she muttered. "Put me on hold will you? _You_ called _me_."

She sighed, lowering her arm. No, Gendou Ikari was not the kind of man to play such trivial mind games. He would not have contacted her if it was not important, and he certainly would not have interrupted the communication without cause. He probably _did_ have some urgent meeting with SEELE; after all, it had been quite a long time since NERV had last faced an Angel. The old men were growing impatient.

Ritsuko smiled. Her "relationship" with the Commander had been quite profitable these past few years. He was just using her, of course; she was well aware of that. But then, she was using him, a fact which he also knew quite well. It was a profitable arrangement for each of them, both career-wise and in… other areas.

Her communicator beeped. She lifted it to her ear once again.

"Yes, Commander?"

"Have you located the Second Child?"

"Yes."

"Then our reports were accurate," Gendou said, idly rubbing the embryo implanted in his right hand. "Very well. Proceed as planned."

"Understood."

The line clicked as Gendou severed the connection.

"So, the Second Child is still alive," Fuyutsuki said, as Gendou placed the phone back into his desk drawer. "Remarkable. Perhaps we were too hasty in discarding her."

"Perhaps," Gendou admitted, looking up at the sub-commander. "But that is of no concern to us now. The final Angel will soon appear. There's not much time left."

"Yes," Fuyutsuki agreed. "After all these years, our plans are finally coming to fruition."

"Indeed."

A hospital orderly moved steadily down the corridor, pushing a cart of medical supplies. The name on his ID tag read "Kire Guirufuyu." He slowed, glancing briefly at the closed door of Room 217 as he passed; it was unusual for patients' doors to be shut, even at night. He considered investigating, but decided against it. It was late, and he had plenty of work left to do before his shift was over. Resuming his former pace, he continued down the hall. By the time he reached the double doors at the end, he had forgotten the matter entirely.

Once he was gone, Ritsuko Akagi stepped out from the shadow of a nearby vending machine. She reached within her lab coat, removing a small syringe full of amber liquid. She held the needle up to the light, depressing the plunger slightly, squirting a small quantity of the fluid to ensure it was in working order. Turning her attention to the closed door of Room 217, she strode across the hallway and grasped the handle.

It wouldn't budge. She pulled again, more forcefully this time, with identical results. It was locked.

"Shit."

**

* * *

**

**Tokyo-2 Community Hospital**

**Five Years Later**

The sound of a mosquito buzzing filled her ears, fading in and out as the insect varied in its flight path. She exhaled, diaphragm pushing the breath from her lungs, flowing past her dry tongue and faintly moving lips into the empty room. Slight vibrations in her vocal cords mingled with the current, transforming the usually silent act into a soft, garbled moan.

The buzzing sound increased again in volume, then went silent. She felt a slight prickling on her forehead as the bug set down, taking a few small steps before sinking its proboscis into the delicate flesh just above her nose, suckling contently at her vital fluids.

For the first time in more than five years, the right hand of Asuka Langley Sohryu moved, lifting past the horizontal plane to swat the pesky insect beneath her palm. The hand fell limply to her side again, discarding the crushed remains upon the room's tiled floor.

"Baka Shinji," she murmured, her lips, lungs, and vocal cords finally coming to an agreement. The words were thick, slurred; but their meaning was clear. Had there been an audience to listen, they would have understood her meaning perfectly.

"Always leaving the window open…"

Her eyes flickered open, slowly, uncertainly. The ceiling's image wavered back and forth, coming slowly into focus. Thoughts formed in her mind, but trailed off into oblivion before she could finish them. Her lips parted, opening and closing like a fish out of water, trying to form coherent speech; but as her mind transitioned awkwardly from one idea to another, so too did her body, and the words disappeared before they could be translated into sound.

A noise in the hallway attracted her attention; for a brief moment, she was able to focus her thoughts on a single notion, instincts kicking in. While her conscious mind struggled with sorting details like who and where she was, her subconscious was hard at work doing what it was meant to do: keep her alive. In this instant, the two were in accordance, each advocating the same course of action: _Do. Not. Move._

Kire Guirufuyu pushed his cart of medical supplies down the hallway, walking slowly. It was a slow night, and all his work was completed. In fact, the only thing preventing him from plopping his ass down in front of the break room television was the possibility that one of the night shift's on-call doctors would catch him slacking and stick him with more work. So he idly pushed his cart down the hallway, trying to look busy and counting down the minutes until his shift was over.

He paused at the door to Room 217. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but something was beckoning to him, drawing him in. Leaving his cart in the hall, he stepped across the threshold into the room.

The girl lay motionless upon the bed, the same way she had been for more than five years. But she did not look the same as she had back then; her figure had filled out nicely, despite her lack of exercise. Kire's eyes followed along the curves and valleys of her body, absorbing the sight as if for the first time. It might have been just a result of his boredom, or perhaps it was his sudden realization that she was now over eighteen years of age, but for whatever reason his mind began to seriously consider an idea that until then had just been lurking in his subconscious, surfacing occasionally only to be dismissed as a product of his own perverted fantasy.

He continued his examination; she really was a _very_ attractive young woman, despite the fact that she was a foreigner. In fact, that only made her seem a bit exotic, increasing her level of attractiveness.

Kire was not sure why he was just realizing this now. He had walked by this room almost every day for the last five years; hell, he had often walked _into_ this room in the course of performing his nightly duties. Even when that little Ikari fellow and his two friends started showing up on a regular basis, spending hours at a time locked inside the room with the comatose girl doing God knows what, he had not truly noticed her transformation until this moment. He had never really given it much thought, he supposed; as long as those nice, fat checks kept rolling in from the NERV bank account, he was more than happy to turn a blind eye toward these little excursions. As far as Kire was concerned, as long as they didn't leave any permanent marks, it was smooth sailing.

But now, he could not deny her allure; and the way her gown had tilted slightly to the side, showing off a large portion of her cleavage, only helped to drive this fact home into his brain. So what if he indulged a little, now? Who would know? The only other person around was the girl herself, and she wasn't talking.

Grasping the door handle, Kire slowly pulled the door shut and slid the lock into place. The click it made when secured seemed loud as an explosion to his mind, blasting away the last vestiges of his reluctance. His choice was made; there was no turning back. Loosening his belt, he walked over to the bed, his eyes still absorbing Asuka's beauty. Placing a knee at her side, he gently lifted his other leg over her abdomen, the eased himself down, straddling her. He moved his face in closer, inhaling her scent, her cool breath brushing against his cheek. He smiled.

"Baby, when I'm done with you, you'll be jumping around reciting the alphabet backwards."

"Is that so?"

Asuka's eyes snapped opened, a wicked smile splayed across her face. Kire began to pull back, shocked at her sudden revival.

Asuka's right arm shot up, fingers extended as if in a 'peace' sign. Peace, however, was the furthest thing from her mind. The unfortunate Mr. Kire Guirufuyu came to realize this quite well as the fingers continued their forward motion, plunging into his eyes and piercing through the soft orbs clear to the back of their sockets. He opened his mouth to scream, but Asuka's left hand came up, clamping his jaw shut. Unfortunately for him yet again, his tongue was not completely retracted into his mouth. As Asuka slammed his jaws together, his teeth closed over the exposed organ, slicing through the flesh and splashing Asuka's cheek with warm blood.

In supreme agony, Kire tried to scream, but between the hand clamped firmly under his chin and the large quantities of blood filling his mouth, all he managed were a few muffled gurgles. The warm red fluid dribbled from between his forcibly closed lips and spurted through his nose, further spattering Asuka's face and gown.

Withdrawing her right hand from his oozing sockets, she reached around, securely grasping the back of his head. Then, releasing her other hand from beneath his chin and placing it firmly against his cheek, she twisted. With a loud crack and one final, unrestricted gurgle, the unfortunate orderly was wiped from this existence. Asuka gave a slight shove, then let the forces of gravity and his body's own weight finish the job, sending the corpse toppling to the floor.

She lay still, sweat beading on her forehead from the exertion; her poor, atrophied body was not ready to handle that kind of effort. Still, the act had helped her focus, bringing her thoughts much more into focus than the disorderly mob they had been previously.

The smell of freshly-spilled blood permeated the air. Asuka's nostrils absorbed the scent, translating it into electrical impulses. As her memories settled into place, these impulses traveled through her nerves, sparking from one neuron to the next, until finally they reached their ultimate destination.

Asuka froze. The thoughts surged through her, relentless.

S_cent of blood._

_LCL._

_Entry plug._

_EVA._

_Not a doll._

She thrashed, caught up in the rush of memories, leaning too close to the bed's edge. Off-balance and caught up in the madness within, she toppled over the side, stomach colliding with the orderly's corpse as her knees impacted on the cold, hard floor. She grunted in pain, the breath flowing out of her all at once, but still the memories came.

_Angel._

_Mission._

_Sinking._

_Darkness._

_**Gendou.**_

As abruptly as they had come, the memories stopped. She lay there, staring at the orderly's blood as it flowed through the grooves between tiles, that single thought burning in her mind.

**_Gendou._**

A line of frothy spittle trailed from the corner of her mouth, mingling with the blood on the floor.

**_Gendou._**

The words came forth from deep within her, wrenched from the very fiber of her being.

"I'll kill you, I'll _kill_ you, I'll _KILL_ you…"

* * *

**Two Hours Later**

"I'll kill you…"

Asuka lay atop the orderly's corpse, staring blankly at the pale, tiled floor, the last of her rage expended with this final whisper. She felt numb, empty, drained.

But her lust for revenge remained. It was the only thing that kept her going. Without it, she might very well have lapsed back into her coma right there, never to wake up again. It burned at the back of her mind, prodding her onward, keeping her conscious. It would not let her forget.

And she would _never_ forgive.

Revitalized by her hate, she rolled off the carcass, her mind working feverishly to determine the best course of action. For the time being, she busied herself with emptying Kire's pockets, coming up with a set of keys and a wallet stuffed with a nice, thick wad of bills. She smiled; it was a start.

Pushing her elbows against the tile's smooth surface, she pulled herself toward the door, dragging her useless legs behind. She grimaced as her tender knees and stomach rubbed against the floor, but still she persevered, finally reaching her destination. She put her ear to the door, listening.

Silence.

Satisfied that the coast was clear, she reached for the lock. It was just out of reach, her fingers barely brushing against the bottom of the mechanism. Cursing her useless legs, she took a deep breath, then reached up again, fully extending her right arm. As it reached its maximum height, she closed her yes, took a deep breath, and pushed even further. Her shoulder popped, eliciting a small yelp of pain. She grimaced, raising the arm further. The joint popped again, louder this time, and she gasped, tears streaming from the corners of her tightly clenched eyelids. Finally, her fingers found what they were looking for. With a jerk and one last grunt of pain, she slid the lock out of place, then slid to the floor, panting with exertion. Grasping her right arm firmly in her left hand, she gave a strong, quick jerk, jamming her shoulder joint back into place. The pain brought more tears to her eyes, but she did not cry out. Pain was a weakness, and she could not allow herself the luxury of having weaknesses.

Reluctantly giving herself a few moments to recover, Asuka grasped the door handle and yanked it open, revealing the hallway beyond, and the orderly's cart still sitting where he had left it.

She eyed the cart and its contents, then pulled it into the room with her. Discarding all of its contents into a pile on the floor, with the exception of a scalpel and a fresh pair of hospital scrubs which with some effort she managed to put on, Asuka pushed the cart over to the bed. Hauling her body over in that direction as well, she reached up onto the bed, grabbed two handfuls of the sheets, and pulled. They were loose at first, and she felt herself slipping, but then they pulled taut and she managed to start raising herself up. She had almost made it when her hand slipped and she fell back down, crashing painfully into the floor once again. Cursing herself, partly for the failure and partly for the sleeve of her gown that had come dangerously close to the pool of blood leaking from the deceased orderly's mouth, Asuka snatched her arm away and reached back up to the bed for a second attempt.

She fell twice more before finally managing to pull herself all the way up, but manage she did. Pulling the cart closer to her, she dragged herself over onto that as well, then pushed off the bed with her left hand, sending the cart rolling over to the doorway with her as its passenger.

She peeked out into the hallway again, looking both ways to make sure she would not be seen. It was empty; the on-call doctors were probably busy dealing with emergency patients, and she knew quite well where this wing's night orderly was located.

Pushing herself out into the hallway, she rolled over to the wall opposite Room 217. Pushing off of this wall, she propelled herself further down the hallway at an angle that brought her back to the wall on Room 217's side, but further down toward the exit. Using this same technique, she continued down the hall, zigzagging from side to side.

As she neared the exit, one of the night shift doctors on break came through a side door, walking over to a vending machine directly in her path.

She kept coming. He did not seem to notice, placing a coin into the vending machine.

She kept coming. Still he did not notice, inserting another coin into the slot.

She kept coming. He lifted his hand, hovering over the selection keypad, wavering back and forth between chocolate and strawberry pocky.

Asuka kept coming. Finally, the man seemed to notice the squeaking sounds of the cart's wheels coming towards him and looked over in that direction.

He blinked. For a full ten seconds his mind was simply unable to process what his eyes were telling him. A young, red-headed woman, obviously of foreign heritage, was gliding down the hospital corridor atop an empty supply cart, her face and neck still streaked with blood. He could do nothing but stare, his hand still hovering over the keypad.

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but was abruptly silenced as Asuka's fist lashed out, colliding with his temple and sending his head crashing into the selection panel as she rolled by. The poor doctor collapsed, his head rebounding off the hard tile floor of the hallway.

The machine whirred, then spat out a box of chocolate pocky. The small package bounced off the unconscious man's cheek, then skidded to a halt a few inches away. Asuka continued her bizarre movement, rolling onward down the hallway and out the double doors.

Asuka rolled cautiously through the parking lot, using the thinly scattered cars to propel herself forward. She withdrew the keys from within her pocket, searching for some clue as to which one might be his. She held up the keychain, tilting it to remove the glare from a nearby streetlight, but not so much as to lose the illumination completely. A figure caught her eye; it was a picture of some scantily-clad, pre-Second Impact anime girl. A pair of bunny ears adorned her head, and from the picture's perspective her panties were clearly visible beneath her extremely short skirt, wedged tightly up the crack of her ass.

Asuka looked up, scanning the deserted lot. She froze.

Off to side, a few spaces down from where most of the parked cars were congregated, sat a bright yellow pickup. Its sides were plastered with decals of girls from various anime series; maids, teachers, superheroines, elves, and schoolgirls, all in various degrees of near-nudity and provocative poses. A bright pink sticker on the rear bumper read "Oh, What Service!"

Asuka groaned, pushing off in that direction.

"Baka hentai."

* * *

Asuka lay in the backseat of Kire's pickup, stretched out across the seat with her feet propped up against the window. She stared them down with the same intensity she had when fighting Angels, as if daring them to defy her.

"_Move_," she hissed.

She had taken a few anatomy classes in college, and had even dabbled a bit in physical therapy for a semester, but now she cursed herself for not paying more attention.

"Move, damn you!"

She glanced down at the fingers of her right hand, still stained with blood. She imagined those fingers thrust into Gendou's eyes- or Rei's. Those cold, red eyes. Asuka smiled.

_Wondergirl… we _will _meet again. Oh yes, we will…_

But none of that could happen until she was able to walk again.

"Damnit, I said _move_…"

* * *

**Twelve Hours Later**

Asuka's feet poked cautiously out of the side door, slowly lowering to the pavement. After five years of neglect, she was finally able to support her own weight again.

Tentatively, she moved forward, putting one foot in front of the other, easing her way along. With each step she grew steadier, more confident in her own stability. By the time she reached the driver's side door of the truck, she was almost walking normally again.

Yanking the door open, she checked the slightly more crowded parking lot one last time for any possible observers and climbed in. Turning the key, she giggled in delight as the truck's engine turned over and growled to life.

The CD player came on. Asuka glanced at the loading screen, waiting in apprehension; she didn't have a clue as to what twisted musical tastes the deceased orderly may have had, and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

The music came on; it was worse than she could ever have anticipated.

_"Pawafuru mirakuru ima kuru!"_

The opening theme to _Steel Angel Kurumi_ blared through the pickup's enhanced sound system.

"_Hajikeru Majikaru wandafuru!"_

Asuka reached for the player's controls, desperately trying to shut it off.

_"Ririkaru komikaru_ _koi suru torokeru_…"

Her hand hovered over the power button, just centimeters away. All it would take was a slight flick of a finger.

_"Mi-ra-ku-ru-mi!"_

Her hand fell away. Even Asuka's heart, as cold and filled with hatred as it was, could not resist the song's maddeningly cute appeal. Surrendering to its hypnotic charm, she shifted the truck into reverse and backed out of the parking space. Careful to avoid attracting the attention of the police cars parked outside the hospital's main entrance, undoubtedly there to investigate the murder and assault that had taken place the previous night, Asuka steered her way out of the hospital complex. After putting a comfortably safe distance between her and the facility, she slammed on the accelerator. The pickup roared into action, taking off like a bat out of hell, the _Kurumi_ theme still blaring from its speakers.

_"Ririkaru komikaru,_ _koi suru torokeru, mi-ra-ku-ru-mi!"_

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**END OF CHAPTER**xxxxxxxxxx**

Ehehehehe… do you hate me yet?

I suppose the ending was a little ridiculous, especially if you haven't seen Steel Angel Kurumi, but I couldn't resist. Have you heard that song? It gets in your head and just won't leave. Unless you blow it out. With a bullet. But I promise I won't let the fic go wandering off on a tangent like that _too_ much, and I will try to keep my sorry attempts at humor appropriately dark.

As you can probably tell, I've been following the Kill Bill plot somewhat closely, if in a slightly more chronologically organized way. This will probably continue through the events of Kill Bill's Volume 1, but after that it will likely diverge off on its own, as I have decided to tastefully avoid the idea of Gendou impregnating a fourteen-year-old Asuka. Hehe, listen to me: tastefully. As if the rest of this fic was done tastefully. Still, Gendou banging Asuka: no. Just… no.

In the next chapter, Asuka encounters Misato, and maybe even Rei… I don't know yet. Maybe I'll even manage to somehow squeak some of the minor characters in there. And don't worry; there will be more than two volumes, as long as I get a proper amount of reader input…

Just kidding. Don't you just hate it when some author goes on an ego trip and tries to hold their own fic hostage until they get X number of reviews? Like it is sooo great and important to the reader that they will just throw themselves down at the author's feet and beg by writing a bunch of kiss-ass reviews? Whenever I see that, I have a tendency to immediately click the back button, or maybe even the little red x in the corner of my browser.

Damn. This turned into quite a long author's note, didn't it? Well, I'll just shut up now and let you get back to perusing your voluminous Sailor Moon hentai collection or ogling Paris Hilton's boobs or whatever is you like to do in your spare time. But before you do, please leave me a review if you could, because reviews make me giddy like a little schoolgirl.

Thanks for reading.


	2. Vol 2: Asuka Strikes!

**EDIT:** As of February 11, 2005, this chapter has been edited. Mostly just some rewording and little grammatical fixes.

Okay… since the very beginning of this chapter sucked (hell, it was quite possibly the most painfully crappy and unoriginal thing I have ever written), I decided to just reach in and rip it apart. All you really need is the main idea anyway; she gets the damn sword. Period. Ooh, "spoilers," boo-hoo. Cry about it :P

_**Kill Gendou Vol. 2**_

**Okinawa, Japan**

**Three Weeks Later**

Asuka pushed aside the cheap silk curtain and stepped over the threshold into the cozy little sushi parlor, dressed in a pale yellow sun dress not unlike the one she wore frequently as a child. A short, unimposing Japanese sushi chef stood behind the counter, polishing a glass, an apron hanging loosely over his small torso. It was stained in several places and a bit too large, giving him an almost comical appearance. He glanced up at the prospective customer as she entered, stepping daintily toward the counter.

"H-Hallo?" he asked, stuttering in his English, obviously unfamiliar with the language.

She smiled shyly at him, flashing her perfectly white teeth and cute dimples in his direction as she stepped up to the counter.

"English?" he asked simply, greeting her with a warm smile of his own.

"Sure," she replied amicably in perfectly fluent Japanese. "Why the hell not?"

The little man frowned in confusion. In a flurry of motion, she reached over and snatched the little man up by the collar, slamming his face down onto the countertop. Vaulting over the barricade to join him on the other side, she slammed his head down for a second time, careful to keep him alive and conscious.

"Are you Hattori Hanzo?" she demanded.

The man stuttered incoherently. Asuka snatched up his arm, twisting it painfully around behind his back, mashing his face down into the countertop.

"I said, are you Hattori Hanzo?" she repeated, more forcefully this time.

The man nodded, grimacing in pain. A second sushi chef came running in from the kitchen to investigate the commotion, clutching a large butcher knife. Seeing his employer in such a predicament, he charged forward, lifting the knife threateningly.

Without releasing her hold on the first man, Asuka lashed out with a vicious kick to the newcomer's nose, eliciting a rather loud crack upon impact. The man went down hard, the knife tumbling from his limp grasp and clattering noisily against the cheaply-tiled floor. He lay still.

Asuka turned her attention back to the first man squirming helplessly in her grasp.

"So, your name is Hattori Hanzo. But are you _the_ Hattori Hanzo?"

The man nodded again, desperate to get free of her grasp.

"And you make samurai swords?"

He stuttered again. Asuka lifted his head up, twisting his arm further, then slammed his head back down onto the counter, harder than before but still not hard enough to seriously impede his cognitive capacity.

"Now," she said calmly, injecting her voice with a hearty dose of malice. "Do you make samurai swords? Yes or no!"

"I- I am retired," he stammered.

Asuka dragged the man length-wise down the counter, crashing him face-first through cups, dishes, napkin holders, silverware, salt shakers, and the like. Reaching the end, she flung him into the wall, his shoulder slamming into the hard surface.

"You are now officially coming out of retirement," Asuka told him. "I will return in exactly thirty days. Whether the sword is ready or not, as well as its quality, will determine whether your life continues past that day. I leave the choice to you."

Smiling politely and giving him a slight, respectful bow, she turned and walked back through the curtain into the bright sunlight beyond.

Hattori Hanzo lay still where he had fallen, looking over at the comatose form of his assistant sprawled out on the floor, blood leaking from each nostril. He did not know who this girl was, or where she had come from, but there was one thing he did know for certain: he did not want to see her angry.

He closed his eyes, sighing. The choice was clear.

He would make the sword.

-

**Seven Months Later**

The Hanzo steel arced through the air, glinting in the lantern's dim light. Smoothly coming to a halt, it whipped back in the other direction.

Asuka eyed the meticulously folded steel, taking in its exquisite craftsmanship for what must have been the thousandth time. It was truly a magnificent weapon. The old man _had_ said it was his finest creation, and she could find no reason to refute that claim. For the last six months she had never been more than a few feet from the blade. Even as she slept it had laid on the floor next her bedroll, well within her reach. It was not the result of excessive paranoia that had kept it thus, however, but rather a merging of selves. She strove not just to assimilate the sword as an extension of her body, but to become one with the sword, to incorporate it into her very being, to fuse with the instrument of death. Mind, body, soul, and sword, she would be the avatar of vengeance. She would be death incarnate.

Asuka gracefully returned the weapon back into its smooth wooden sheath, glancing around the run-down warehouse where she had been living in seclusion for the past half year, training and exercising her weakened body. She flexed her hand, closing the slender fingers into a fist and extending them again. Every muscle in her body felt taut; her every movement, fluid.

She was ready.

-

**Two Weeks Later**

**Tokyo-3 NERV Personnel Habitation District**

The yellow pickup tore around the corner and slid into the parking space, tires squealing and music blaring from its powerful speakers.

_"…even mother will show you, nother way! So put your grasses on, nothing will be wong. There's no blame, there's no fame, it's up to y-"_

The song cut off abruptly as Asuka turned the key back, shutting off the truck's engine and returning the surrounding area to its former tranquility. It was late afternoon, and most of the area's normal occupants were at work. The few citizens remaining in their homes were still inside, busily preparing for their night shift duties.

Asuka stepped casually out the driver's side door, gripping her katana by its sheath. The sound of the door closing echoed briefly about the deserted street, then faded to silence. Asuka gazed up at the apartment building looming before her, eyes focusing in on her objective. Eighth floor, Room 37. The dwelling of one Misato Katsuragi.

It had been difficult to track this woman down. Asuka had first visited the old apartment, where she had lived with Misato and Shinji. But it had turned up empty, forgotten, abandoned years ago.

_Years ago…_

Asuka ached for her lost time. She grieved for the childhood cut short, the innocence lost. One day she had been a fourteen-year-old girl; the next she was a 20-year-old murderer.

Asuka felt her pulse quicken in anticipation as she entered the lobby and headed for the stairwell. The elevator would have been faster, but NERV intelligence was everywhere. If she had somehow managed to attract their suspicion, the small, enclosed transport device could quickly transform into a steel death trap. Besides, she wanted to savor these moments. This was the beginning, the first step in her quest for vengeance. Each step she took literally brought her closer to her ultimate retribution.

-

The buzzer rang. Misato Katsuragi stepped over to the entryway, dressed in her usual red officer's jacket and uniform, and depressed the door's release button with her right index finger. The mechanism hissed as the door slid open.

Misato blinked.

There in the doorway stood Asuka Langley Sohryu, the Second Child, long assumed to be deceased. Her right hand still lingered by the buzzer, prepared to press it a second time if necessary. Her left arm hung limply at her side, clutching an impressive-looking samurai sword by its sheath.

Not a word was exchanged. The two women stared straight ahead, each locked with the other's gaze. Seconds passed slowly, dragging on into hours. Asuka's eyes burned with the lust that consumed her, the lust for vengeance. Her heart cried for blood, the blood of this backstabbing-

_Lieutenant_, Asuka noted, noticing the pips on the shoulder of Misato's jacket. Things had certainly changed over the last five years.

Extracting a short, wickedly sharp combat knife from a small scabbard at her right hip, Asuka struck, drawing a line of blood across her former guardian's cheek.

Misato jerked back from the blow, fumbling for her sidearm. Asuka slashed at her again, the tip of her knife passing centimeters from Misato's throat as she stumbled backwards, still grasping for her own weapon. Desperately evading Asuka's continued assault, Misato finally felt her palm close around the weapon's grip. Ducking a fierce horizontal swipe, she quickly drew the pistol and pointed it straight at the vindictive redhead's chest.

Asuka dove to the side as the weapon fired, twin bullets ripping into the wall where she had been just a split-second before. Misato tracked her aim over to the side, squeezing off a few more shots. Asuka kept her momentum, throwing her body to the side in a diving roll, pistol rounds ricocheting around her, missing by mere inches. One especially near miss impacted against the hilt of her sword, knocking the weapon from her grasp.

Misato kept firing, slugs ripping into the walls and furniture of her living room, spraying the air with a fine mist of plaster and shattered bits of glass. Coming up from her roll Asuka lunged behind the couch, using its wide frame to shield herself from the continued barrage.

Misato cursed the bulky piece of furniture that obscured her line of sight, concealing her foe. Pointing the gun at the sofa, she fired, scattering her shots to give the best chance of hitting her target. The rounds tore easily through the cushions' soft material, sending up geysers of stuffing and debris.

The sound of the last gunshot echoed briefly through the apartment, then faded away. Misato eased her finger off the trigger, lowering the firearm back in closer to her chest. The scattered debris from the ruined couch settled slowly to the floor, like a light snowfall. All was quiet; there was no sign of movement from anywhere in the room.

Slowly, Asuka rose from behind the sofa, her icy blue eyes locked on Misato. The Lieutenant met her gaze, raising the pistol back up, her aim locked in place.

The phone rang. Misato froze, glancing at it through the corner of her eye. Asuka smiled, gesturing towards the phone.

"Go ahead and take that, Misato. I wouldn't want you to miss your last phone call. Ever."

Misato moved over to the phone, slowly, still pointing the gun at Asuka, then lifted it from its wall-mounted receiver.

"Hello?" she said in her usual friendly voice, slightly out of breath. "Ah, hello Ritsuko. No, everything's fine. Yes. Of course I'll be there. Yes, he'll be there too. What _about_ Rei? I haven't seen her in over a week, you know how independent she's become lately. The Commander is the only one who seems to know where she is. Yes. The wedding? Well, we haven't really given it much thought yet."

Asuka's eyes focused on a small, golden glint on Misato's hand that she had not noticed before. It was a ring; an engagement ring. That could only mean one thing.

_You bitch_, Asuka thought. But she would not back down. She had come too far.

"Yes," Misato continued, "that sounds wonderful. I'll be sure to let him know. Yes. Tonight? We just tested them last week. Yes, I know, Commander's orders. No, I don't have any plans. Sure. That sounds good. Of course, you know how he is. Yes. I'll see you later. Bye."

"You shouldn't lie over the phone like that, Misato. You _won't_ be seeing her again. In fact, you won't be seeing anyone again. Ever."

"We'll see who's lying," Misato spat, tossing the phone away.

"Well, I suppose you will be reunited after all," Asuka conceded. "That is, once I'm finished sending the lot of you to hell."

"That's a pretty bold statement for someone about to die," Misato replied, indicating the pistol in her hand.

Asuka grinned.

"I might say the same thing," she countered. "You can go ahead and drop the gun, Misato. You're out of bullets."

Misato eyed the weapon in her hand, then looked back up at Asuka. Again her view shifted to the gun, then back to Asuka. Pointing the barrel straight at Asuka's head, she pulled the trigger.

_Click._ Asuka didn't even blink.

"I told you."

Misato snarled, pulling it several more times in succession.

_Click. Click. Click._

She tossed the useless weapon aside in anger. Unarmed, she stared at Asuka.

"So what now?" Misato asked. "You just kill me?"

"That's the general idea. However, you _were_ kind to me in the past. So, as a token of my _heartfelt_ gratitude, I present you… with this."

Unsheathing a second knife from her hip, Asuka tossed the blade across the room. It clattered on the tile floor, coming to a rest at Misato's feet. Confused by the blend of biting sarcasm and candor in the younger woman's voice, Misato tentatively bent down to retrieve the fallen weapon, her eyes still locked on the Second Child. Grasping the hilt, she straightened, bringing the knife up in a ready stance.

Asuka's eyes flashed eagerly. She grinned.

"Let's go."

The two women circled each other, knives ready, waiting for an opening, searching for a gap in the other's defenses. Misato moved first, slashing in toward Asuka's throat. Asuka dodged, lashing out for a fatal blow of her own. Misato ducked, spinning around and hacking at the younger woman's exposed hip. Asuka twisted away, but her leg still caught the tip of the blade, slicing through her jeans and into the soft flesh of her thigh. She nimbly darted out of the way, grimacing as fresh blood leaked from the wound, soaking through the surrounding material.

The two combatants resumed their circling, blades at the ready, probing for weaknesses.

"Nice move," Asuka hissed.

"Thanks."

"Don't get too cocky. That was your one free shot; there's plenty more blood to be spilled today, and it isn't going to be mine."

Asuka lunged forward, her blade on a collision course with Misato's throat, but the agile lieutenant dodged easily. She frowned, confused by the weakness of the attack.

All was made clear, however, when Asuka's heel connected with her stomach, knocking her over backwards. The coffee table splintered beneath her weight as she crashed to the floor.

Asuka pounced, plunging her knife downward. Misato jerked to the side, and the stabbed deep into the hardwood floor. Asuka rolled away as Misato countered with her own weapon, and cursed as the handle slipped from her grasp, the blade still stuck fast in the floor.

Misato seized the opportunity, lunging at her unarmed foe. Asuka barely managed to grasp hold of Misato's forearms, bringing the older woman's attack to an abrupt halt just inches from her chest as they tumbled both tumbled to the floor, Asuka's back slamming painfully onto the unyielding wooden surface.

"Just give up," Misato hissed, pushing down harder on the blade.

Asuka put up quite a formidable resistance, but Misato had the greater leverage. Slowly but surely, the blade inched downward.

"Tell me," Asuka said through gritted teeth. "Why did you do it?"

"Why?" Misato panted, keeping the downward pressure on the knife. "I suppose it was the money. I got a promotion and a nice fat pay raise once you were gone. Not to mention the fact that they probably would have killed me too if I refused. Besides, after Ritsuko reminded me what a stubborn, self-centered bitch you were, it wasn't so hard letting go."

"Ah, yes, whoring yourself away as usual."

Misato smiled, unaffected by the insult.

"Perhaps; not that matters anyway. Soon you'll be dead… again."

Misato increased the downward pressure further, quickening the knife's painfully slow descent. Only a few more centimeters remained between the blade and Asuka's chest.

Asuka smiled, a grin of pure confidence.

"Next time you're trying to kill someone, maybe you should try shutting the hell up."

A look of confusion crossed Misato's face. Seizing the opportunity, Asuka pushed with all her might, pushing the knife's tip further away from her sternum, and slammed her forehead directly into Misato's face, knocking the older woman over.

Momentarily freed, Asuka scrambled away on all fours, snatching up her sword from where it had fallen. Leaping to her feet, she turned around just in time to block Misato's attack with its sturdy sheath. Misato kept up the assault, striking again and again with surprising speed, never giving Asuka the opportunity to unsheathe her sword.

Finally seeing an opening, Asuka dodged a deep thrust from Misato's knife and smashed the sturdy sheath straight into other woman's face. Misato fell back for a moment, stunned, blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth. Asuka jumped to her feet and stepped backward, trying to put enough distance between them to unsheathe her sword.

Her back bumped up against the wall less than three feet away. She cursed.

Quickly recovering from the impact, Misato rushed forward with renewed vigor, and Asuka once again found herself on the defensive. Only this time, her back was against the wall- literally.

Misato's movements were furious. Asuka could barely follow them, jerking the sheath over to block each attack. If this kept up, it was only a matter of time before she made a mistake.

Asuka thrust her sheathed blade forward, taking the offensive. This was a dangerous gamble, as Misato's small, unimpeded blade was far more maneuverable and deadly in close quarters than the bulky sword. One slip-up and it would easily find its way into her throat. Misato fell back, dodging and fending off the attacks

The combatants carried on, hacking and battering away at one another all over the living room. Furniture was smashed, fragile objects broken, fabric torn and cut. Beaten, cut, bruised, the two warriors fought on, leaving destruction in their wake.

Asuka pushed on in a surge of violence, forcing Misato back toward the kitchen. The older woman's foot caught on the divider where carpet and tile met, and she stumbled backwards into the room her shoes skidding on the smooth surface. Asuka pressed forward, but somehow Misato managed to recover, matching Asuka's attacks and even pushing her back a bit.

The kitchen quickly transformed into a war zone. Dishes smashed, cabinets splintered; instant ramen and other foodstuffs were strewn across the floor.

Asuka pummeled away at her opponent, driving her back toward the refrigerator. Asuka jerked the sword back above her head and swung it toward Misato's head with all the force she could muster.

The blow was too fast to dodge. Misato thrust her knife up to meet it, wood clashing against steel, then stumbled forward in surprise as the wood gave way, tumbling from Asuka's grasp.

_Voluntarily_, Misato realized, too late, as Asuka's arm continued its forward motion and slugged her had across the jaw. Misato flew backward, her head slamming into the refrigerator and slumped down against it, dazed, her knife tumbling off to the side.

Misato looked up at the Second Child through blurred vision, knowing her death would soon come.

_No_, she realized. _She's not a child anymore._

Misato tried to smile, but found she could not seem to coordinate her thoughts and lips.

_I really am a horrible guardian…_

In one fluid motion, Asuka snatched the weapon out of the air, unsheathed it, and spun around, thrusting the sword straight out behind her. The blade struck Misato right in the forehead, punching through the back of her skull and imbedding itself in the refrigerator door.

Asuka allowed herself a small grunt of satisfaction. Releasing her grip on the sword, she turned, looking down at her former guardian's body. Misato's eyes stared lifelessly ahead, her jaw slack. Beer from punctured cans trickled out from beneath the refrigerator door, mingling with the blood that pooled around her corpse.

Putting a foot on Misato's chest, Asuka grasped the katana's hilt and yanked it free. Misato slid off the blade, slumping over to the side, her face splashing lightly into the gory fluid. More blood leaked from the hole in here forehead, spreading across the tile floor.

Wiping her sword on Misato's uniform jacket and returning it to its sheath, Asuka turned and walked over to the counter. Taking up a pen and a piece of paper, she scribbled a brief note. When she was finished, she smoothed the paper out on the counter and plucked a flower from a nearby vase. Placing the fresh blossom next to the note, she turned and strode from the apartment, closing the door behind her.

-

Later that day, a Mr. Ryouji Kaji opened that very same apartment door. He stopped, noticing the devastation that had swept through the living room. Stepping cautiously through the disaster area, he followed the path of destruction and moved on into the kitchen.

Turning the corner, he came upon the body of the former Miss Misato Katsuragi, slumped over in a puddle of her own blood and alcohol. He blinked. Noticing the flower and note laid out so neatly on the counter, he picked them up. He read the paper, his eyes scanning across the elegantly drawn kanji, absorbing its simple message.

_"I'm sorry, Kaji."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**END OF CHAPTER**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Woohoo, another one down! So what did you think? Not as long as the first one, I know, but there was less dialogue, so I suppose it sort of evens out. It's definitely better than it was before I edited it, though.

Unlike this author's note used to say, the next chapter will _not_ involve any Rei/Asuka action (and like I said before, it's not that kind of "action," you perverts). Although both Rei and Asuka will be in it, and there will be plenty of action.

Thanks for reading; as always, let me know what you thought. Yay or nay?

-K.G.


	3. Vol 3: Entrapment

Okay, after a long, _long_ hiatus, I have finally returned to finish what I started. Okay, maybe _continue _what I started. Sorry about that, it's not that I don't want to finish the story, I just got very busy with college and developed some severe writer's block that I wasn't really able to overcome until Christmas vacation. Plus testing out of some classes early has actually resulted in me taking even _more_ advanced classes, so now it's pretty hectic. But I know where I want to take the story, so perhaps I can still pick up the pace from here. But the reader is always at the mercy of the author, you know. That is, until it comes time for reviewing :) We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?

I also edited the first two chapters, but the plot is still the same, so you don't need to re-read them unless you want to refresh your memory, or because… you just like them. Right? Huh? Nudge nudge, wink wink.

Not a lot happens in this chapter plot-wise; it was originally intended to just be the intro to the next chapter, but it kind of expanded into something like one long-ass fight scene (well, several), with some plot mixed in. So I gave it its own chapter. But fight scenes are fun, right? _Right_?

_**Kill Gendou**_

_**Volume Three**_

_My last assignment,_ Kaji thought, staring down at the small metal box in his hands. Some falsified documents and a data card lay on top of the pile inside, concealing its more sinister contents from prying eyes.

Carefully pulling a black leather glove over his right hand, he tried to push away the lingering thoughts of Misato that kept intruding into his mind. Her death had shaken him, he had to admit, for he had truly loved her, despite the more sinister characteristics that had begun creeping into her personality after the "incident" five years ago.

Kaji felt a pang of regret over that as well. Sure, he had not been directly involved in the affair, but of course he had known about it; it was his business to know things like that. And yet he had done nothing. He had told himself there was nothing he could do. It was out of his hands.

But he had not even _tried_. He had barely given it a thought before submitting to what he believed to be the inevitable. Instead he had turned a blind eye, then attempted to fill the aching hole in his heart with other things: his relationship with Misato, and his interminable quest for the truth.

_Truth_. Kaji sneered at the word. Over the past five years he had slipped further and further from his ideals, straying far from the so-called "truth." He had sunk himself in his work so deeply that before he knew it, he had become a puppet for SEELE; a spy, a thief. No. A _murderer_, lurking in the shadows, his life a web of lies and deceit. Only Misato had kept him anchored to reality, kept him grasping at dim, intangible vestiges of the "real" truth.

But Misato was dead. Perhaps deservedly so, but dead nonetheless. SEELE was finished with him, and before long he would likely be dead as well. His world was gone. In more ways than perhaps she realized, Asuka had taken her revenge.

Kaji felt strangely calm at the realization, sliding a second glove onto his left hand. He tugged at the wrist, pulling it taut about the contours of his long, slender fingers. Pushing the troublesome thoughts from his mind, he reached back into the box, grasped the data card between two gloved fingers, and lifted it out into the dim light. He stared at the slim, crimson piece of plastic, understanding its implications quite well.

_It's red. Just like blood.

* * *

_

Asuka Langley Sohryu ascended the dingy concrete stairwell, lips closed tightly in grim determination. This particular apartment complex had never been the pinnacle of sanitation and elegance, but it obviously had not been particularly well-maintained over the last few years. The place stank of mildew and stagnant water, and the walls, heavily layered with varying degrees of filth, were slimy to the touch.

It was doubtful she would find what she was looking for, considering how much time had passed and the building's horrendous state of disrepair. In all likelihood she walking right into a trap, or at best she would find yet another dead end. But then again, Rei Ayanami was not the type to have moved out of her living quarters unless ordered to do so. Either way, it was Asuka's best and only lead, short of breaking into NERV Headquarters itself.

_Rei Ayanami_. The fine hairs on the back of Asuka's neck bristled at the thought of the enigmatic, blue-haired girl. Their "rivalry" (or at least what Asuka considered to be a rivalry, though it was doubtful Rei thought of it the same way) traced back long before the instance of her betrayal; that had simply escalated the whole affair. In fact, Asuka couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit grateful, as she now had a perfect excuse to kill her.

Reaching the desired level, Asuka stepped around a small pile of broken glass beneath a shattered windowpane and moved carefully into the deserted hallway. It was deathly quiet, and in a similar state of grime as the stairwell had been. Asuka's feet echoed softly on the concrete floor as she crept toward the desired apartment. As she stepped up to the door of Rei's old dwelling, Asuka wondered if _anyone_ lived in this building anymore.

Anxiously fingering the Desert Eagle handgun in the holster at her back, Asuka stared eagerly at the door and pondered what might lie beyond it. Reaching up, she firmly depressed the buzzer with the hilt of her sword. It was time.

* * *

The four NERV intelligence agents sat idly around the cheap metal card table in the empty apartment, looking quite bored. They had been staking the place out for over a week now with absolutely no action of any kind, and they could feel the edges of their sanity beginning to erode away. 

"Why do we always get stuck with such bullshit assignments?" one of them asked, flicking on his lighter and lifting it carefully to the cigarette balanced expertly between his lips.

One of the other agents opened his mouth as if to answer, then froze as the door buzzer rang, shattering the small apartment's dreary silence.

The agent closest to the door rose, letting the cigarette fall from his lips, and crushed it beneath a black leather heel. Extracting the regulation sidearm from its holster beneath his suit jacket, he stalked over to the doorway and peered through the peephole at the area beyond.

The hall was empty. The man backed away from the door, eyeing it uneasily.

The buzzer rang again. Cautiously, he moved back over to the entryway, looking through the hole a second time.

The .50 caliber Desert Eagle bullet ripped straight through the door's peephole and into his eye, splattering a generous portion of his blood and brain tissue across the apartment's concrete walls and floor. The three remaining agents leapt out of their seats, drew their own weapons, and scrambled for the doorway as the dead man's body slid down against the floor.

Asuka grinned. It was too easy.

She pointed the powerful handgun at the door and fired three more shots, using the sound of the agents' footsteps to pinpoint each shot's trajectory. The heavy rounds punched through the flimsy material, and she was rewarded with the heavy thuds of falling bodies and the clattering of metal on concrete as the agents' weapons tumbled to the floor. One of the agents groaned and could be heard fumbling around, searching desperately for his dropped firearm.

Asuka raised an eyebrow.

_Still alive?_ She thought. _Sloppy_.

Raising the pistol again, Asuka fired one more .50 caliber round through the door, much lower than before. Her shot was met with something like a yelping groan and a somewhat softer thud than before. Then it was silent.

Asuka planted her foot forcefully into the center of the door, smashing its supports and sending it crashing into the apartment, and rushed in, scanning the room for further resistance. Aside from the four dead agents, the corroded old bedsprings, and a few other shabby pieces of furniture, the apartment was empty, just as she had suspected.

The sound of pounding feet echoing down the hallway drew her attention, and she peeked out into the hallway. A pair of NERV intelligence agents rushed through the corridor from another room, attracted by the commotion. Keeping the majority of her body hidden behind the doorjamb for cover, Asuka pointed her weapon out into the hallway and fired. The nearest agent's head snapped back, blood spurting from the gaping hole in his face. The second agent stumbled a bit over the collapsing body of his partner, but he still managed to raise his pistol and fire. Asuka quickly ducked back around the corner as bullets impacted surprisingly close to where her head had been just moments before.

Asuka smoothly drew her sword from its sheath and crouched in the doorway, careful to keep her body safely out of her opponent's line of fire. As the agent closed within a few steps of Asuka's position, she sprang. With one hand, she thrust her sword down into the agent's foot, pinning it to the floor. The man cried out and nearly stumbled, but the cold steel blade planted firmly in his foot jerked him back upright. Desperate, the wounded man swung his pistol over to fire at Asuka, but she deftly used the barrel of her own gun to deflect his aim off to the side. His frantic shots slammed harmlessly into the wall as Asuka whipped her Desert Eagle back in line with his head. He barely had time to open his mouth before she fired, pulverizing the bones in his neck and nearly separating his head from the rest of his body. The corpse tumbled to the ground somewhat awkwardly, the foot still pinned beneath Asuka's blade. The man's head lay at an odd angle, connected to his body by only a few meaty strands of flesh.

Asuka grinned; she was really starting to like this gun.

Another clamor of footsteps attracted her attention, this time coming from the stairwell closest to her current position. It was much louder this time; she estimated at least a half dozen agents, maybe more. And who knew how many more could be lurking throughout the apartment complex?

Turning away, Asuka sprinted in the opposite direction toward the stairwell at the other end of the hall, carefully stepping around the fresh corpses on the floor. A few feet down the hall another door slid open, and an agent stepped out into the hall. A look of surprise came over his face, partly at Asuka's startlingly close proximity and partly at the rather large bullet hole blossoming in his forehead. He tumbled backward into the room, eliciting a cry of surprise from a second man behind him, deeper within the room's interior.

Asuka continued her dash for the stairwell, diving across the open doorway and narrowly avoiding a spray of submachine gun bullets. Reaching the end of the hall, she kicked open the stairwell door and rushed inside, barely managing to dodge yet another spray of bullets. One round grazed her left heel, and she stumbled, tumbling down the first flight of stairs. The hard concrete steps pummeled her chest and limbs until she came to a sudden halt, the back of her head slamming painfully onto the landing between flights. She lay on her back, dazed.

The sounds of pounding footsteps pulled her from her stupor. She could tell the agent with the submachine gun was getting close, and the throng from the opposite stairwell had entered the hallway and were fast approaching as well.

Feeling the Desert Eagle still clutched in her hand, Asuka rolled over on her back and pointed the gun up over her head toward the top of the stairs, willing her vision back into focus.

The instant the man's face appeared over the top step's edge, she pulled the trigger. Her last round caught him beneath the chin, burrowing up through his skull and out the back of his head in a rather spectacular geyser of blood, bone, and brain tissue. His finger clenched around the trigger as he died, spraying the walls of narrow stairwell with a final burst of machine gun fire.

Asuka allowed herself a moment's respite, then leapt to her feet and took off down the stairs, grimacing in pain as blood soaked into her jeans from the reopened wound on her thigh. Slipping the Desert Eagle back into its holster, she cursed her lack of foresight in neglecting to bring an extra magazine. The fact that NERV intelligence had been staking out Rei's old apartment was not surprising in the least, but she certainly had not been anticipating so _many_ of them.

She could hear the pounding feet just a few floors above her. It was louder now, and not just as a result of the enclosed space. There were definitely more of them, but the stairwell's poor acoustics prevented her from making an accurate determination. Sliding the sword from its sheath, Asuka quickened her pace, stretching her slender legs to engulf two stairs at a time. She dared not increase her pace any further, lest she risk being caught off balance by pursuing agents on a lower level.

The wisdom of this decision was revealed a few floors from the building's exit, as she rounded a flight of stairs and found herself face to face with a pair of NERV agents, pistols drawn and pointed in her direction.

Without sacrificing her momentum Asuka twisted to the side, planted her rump firmly on the handrail and slid down, narrowing her profile as bullets whizzed just centimeters from her chest. Before her feet even touched the floor, the katana was already arcing down toward the closest adversary, shredding through his chest with practiced ease. The second agent's eyes widened in fear as he desperately shifted his aim over toward her current position, but he was too slow. Asuka cut him down as easily as she had his companion, then immediately continued her descent.

Reaching the ground level, Asuka pressed her back against the wall adjacent to the exit. The pounding feet continued their pursuit down the stairs, but that was no reason to charge out blindly into an ambush. Peering out the door's large glass panes, she spotted three more NERV agents standing watch around the exit. Their guns were drawn, but the three men obviously weren't expecting to use them, assuming there was no way one "little girl" could get past so many of their fellow agents.

"Sloppy," Asuka muttered condescendingly; but then, it _was_ to her advantage.

Tightening her grip on the sword, she dashed out into the mid-afternoon sunshine. The nearest agent noticed the quick pattering of her footsteps and raised his head, which she immediately removed with a horizontal slash. With more time to react, the second agent began to raise his pistol and aim it in her direction. She rushed forward, thrusting the sword straight through his gut. He grunted, blood trickling from his open mouth, then slumped lifelessly on the blade.

Asuka twisted the skewered corpse around between herself and the third agent's line of fire; he hesitated, reluctant to fire on his comrade. Seizing the opportunity, Asuka made her move. Snatching the steel combat knife from its sheath at her hip, she grasped the sharp point between her fingertips and flung it straight ahead. The knife tumbled end over end through the air for several meters, then forcefully lodged itself into the agent's jugular. Eyes bulging, the man fell to his knees, clutching at his throat as if to stop the torrent of blood seeping through his grasping fingers.

Asuka quickly moved toward him and away from the apartment building, not forgetting about the mob of agents that would soon come pouring out of the door in pursuit. He clutched at her ankle as she passed, fiercely clinging to her leg with the desperation that comes when one realizes death is but moments away. Asuka stared down at him, not a trace of remorse evident in her cold expression; rather, she appeared irritated at his continued struggle for life.

Grasping onto her clothing, the man pulled himself up, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, desperately trying to speak, to beg for help. Their eyes met, the final exchange between killer and victim. As casually as one might swat a fly, Asuka raised her katana up to shoulder height and drove it down into the dying man's eye socket, piercing through into the soft tissue of the brain. The agent's grip relaxed, and he slumped to the pavement, dead.

Asuka began to move once again, but paused as a slight glint of sunlight on metal caught her eye. Snatching the gleaming object off the ground, she swiftly darted away from the building's entrance and around the corner into a nearby alley, just as she heard the exit door burst open and the group of a dozen or so agents rush out into the open air.

Pressing her back against the wall, Asuka cradled her prize lovingly, a wicked grin spreading across her face; it was a custom-made submachine gun, heavily modified for increased accuracy and magazine capacity, no doubt loaded with armor-piercing ammunition or something equally delightful. Tearing her eyes away from the beautiful weapon, she pressed her back to the damp brick wall and leaned around the corner, centering her aim on the throng of agents just outside the exit.

"Now _die_," she spat, gently squeezing the trigger. On cue, a torrent of red-hot bullets (armor-piercing, just as she'd suspected) leapt free of their imprisonment within the weapon's magazine and rocketed through the air, tearing into the unsuspecting agents' flesh. Specially designed to penetrate even the heaviest of body armor, the superheated projectiles had no trouble piercing human skin, muscle, and bone, easily punching straight through two or even three agents' bodies before burrowing into the apartment building's heavy concrete walls.

Eyes bulging, Asuka held down the trigger, mercilessly pounding the unsuspecting agents with submachine gun fire. The leading men (and those directly behind them) were cut down immediately. Those behind them followed just moments later as Asuka shifted her line of fire from right to left. Caught off-guard from their right flank, the rest of the mob degenerated into confusion and panic. One by one they dropped to the pavement, images somewhat obscured by a fine mist of blood, smoke, and chipped bits of concrete, until finally none were left standing. Resisting the urge to cackle with glee, Asuka raked their fallen bodies with machine gun fire. Some of them twitched upon the bullets' impact. Others didn't.

Asuka held down the weapon's trigger until the magazine emptied completely. Even then, she kept squeezing, as if she couldn't hear the clicking in the gun's mechanism, an obvious indication to even the inexperienced that the ammunition had run dry. Finally, cheeks flushed and breathing heavily, Asuka released the trigger, dropping the empty weapon to the pavement with a brief clatter. Then there was silence. A bird chirped in the distance, over toward the horizon where the sun was just beginning to sink below the Tokyo-3 skyline. Asuka stared off into the sunset, pondering her next move, when suddenly a slight scraping noise attracted her back toward the pile of corpses.

A lone surviving agent crawled desperately toward the apartment building's open doorway, awkwardly dragging his right leg behind him, a smear of blood trailing from the wounded limb. Another line of red fluid trickled from his left shoulder, where apparently another bullet had just grazed his arm. Asuka stalked over to the wounded man, an idea already forming in her mind.

Noticing her approach, the man became visibly agitated and struggled to increase his pace, clawing for a fallen handgun lying just a few feet from his position. Seizing the weapon in his hand, the injured man whipped it around to fire at the red-haired demon who had injured him and slaughtered his fellow agents.

But when he turned around, she was gone. Only empty air remained to meet his challenge. A voice echoed softly in his left ear.

"Guten nachmittag."

Panicked, he swung his arm around to fire. There was a flash of movement, a slight thud, and the clattering of metal on concrete. The agent squeezed his index finger, willing the gun to discharge and slay this demon.

But the gun did not fire. Frowning, the agent tried again. Still nothing. Suddenly he noticed that his hand felt kind of funny. In fact, come to think of it, it felt really strange, and his wrist hurt like hell.

A glint of orange sunlight reflected into his eye, making him squint. Following the glare to its source, he realized it was coming from the metallic sheen of a handgun, one that looked identical to the gun he was holding. Next to it, in a small puddle of blood on the ground, lay a severed human hand.

_Oh, shit_, he thought, suddenly realizing why his wrist hurt so badly. Raising his arm, he stared blankly at the bloody stump where his hand had been.

Another glint of light caught his attention; only this time, the light came from the long blade of a finely-crafted katana, its tip hovering just inches from his throat. His eyes followed the blade up to the hilt, then up the arm holding it, and all the way up to the face and unmistakable red hair of the sword's wielder. He closed his eyes, waiting for the fatal blow.

But it did not come. Instead, he felt a rough jerk on the back of his collar and realized that he was being dragged back into the building. His elbow banged sharply into the door's frame, sending a jolt of pain up his arm, but it was nothing compared to the searing pain from his amputated wrist and the two bullet holes in his leg, so he hardly noticed it.

Asuka dragged the wounded man into a small alcove behind the stairs, then released her grip, letting him sink to the floor. The man groaned as she kicked him in the side for good measure, then lay still, bleeding and holding his bruised ribs. Their eyes met, and Asuka flashed him a wicked smile.

"Now here's how this is going to work," she said coldly. "I'm going to ask you a few questions. And if I don't like the answers I get, I cut something off."

She punctuated this statement by gesturing toward his bleeding stump with her sword. He flinched.

"Cooperate, and you'll leave here alive, with whatever body parts you have left. Quite a bargain, nicht?"

* * *

Ryoji Kaji's eyes shone intently from the shadows, his only visible feature not consumed by the darkness. Silently, motionlessly, he waited, vision focused on the small, spartan desk area in the corner of the room, where a single occupant sat scribbling away under the illumination of a small office lamp. 

Rei Ayanami sat at the desk, working diligently as always on her school assignments. As per Gendou's orders, piloting Unit 00 and keeping up with her schoolwork were her primary concerns, along with her recent responsibilities with NERV's Intelligence division, so while the other students in her senior class were carelessly watching television, gallivanting about with their friends and whatnot, she was home, focusing on assignments that the other students might have rushed through or otherwise ignored. Of course, it was years ago that he had outlined these priorities, and if questioned about it now, it was unlikely that such mundane activities as schoolwork would hold equal precedence with her new responsibilities in the intelligence division; but she had never asked, simply assimilating the new duties in with those he had originally specified. And Rei was nothing if not obedient, so here she was, dutifully evaluating definite integrals as assigned by her calculus teacher.

Kaji reached a black-gloved hand into his pocket, closing his fingers around the thin leather cord inside. Without making a sound, he lifted the cord from his hip and held it up in front of him, stretching it out to its full length. Taking a firm grip on the small handles at either end and wrapping a small measure of cord around each index finger, Kaji took one small step toward the desk where Rei sat, seemingly oblivious to his presence. Slowly, noiselessly, he took another small step, and then another, and so on until he was just a few steps behind her.

Raising the cord even with his chin, Kaji carefully closed the remaining distance between them and, in a sudden burst of movement, whipped the garrote down past her face and pulled it taut around her throat, quickly and effectively cutting off her air supply. Rei tried to jerk away, scraping her chair on the room's concrete floor, but only managed to pull the garrote even tighter against her neck, silencing even the few small, muffled choking sounds she had been able to make. With a speed and strength seemingly uncharacteristic of her small frame, Rei snatched up her pencil from atop the notebook where it had fallen and thrust it behind her, stabbing deep into Kaji's shoulder. He grunted at the sudden pain, but did not relinquish his grip on the cord, pulling it even tighter against her throat.

Rei jerked the writing utensil free, then thrust it in again, lower than before, piercing the upper left-hand corner of Kaji's chest. This time it was enough to momentarily loosen his grip, and, seizing a small bit of free cord near the fingers of Kaji's left hand, Rei wrenched the garrote away from her neck. With a sickening crack, Kaji felt several joints in his left index finger snap violently out of their sockets as the cord pulled free, twisting the finger itself in a way it was never intended to bend. He stumbled backwards, eyes watering from the pain.

Kaji blinked, clearing his vision just in time to see his target snatch a wickedly curved tanto from the top desk drawer. Cursing himself, Kaji drew his emergency sidearm from the holster on his belt. He had hoped to be completely silent, but now he would have to rely on the pistol's built-in silencer and a hasty getaway. It was messy, but it could be done, and under the present circumstances, that's all that mattered.

Spying the gun in his hand, Rei dashed forward, rushing in close where the maneuverability of her short blade would give her the advantage. Kaji fired once, but Rei twisted her body aside, and the bullet just grazed her shoulder and collarbone. Rei lunged off to the side as two more shots from Kaji's gun soared past her shoulder, the last one impacting squarely into the desk lamp. The bulb exploded with a loud pop and a shower of sparks, briefly illuminating the apartment before fading out and casting the room into darkness.

Kaji cursed himself again. If the NERV security agents watching Rei hadn't already been alerted by the commotion or his previous shots, then they certainly were now. And after all the trouble he had gone through to sneak by them…

The room seemed to brighten in Kaji's vision as the rods and cones of his eyes shifted into the proper balance to process the new level of ambience. It didn't take long; Kaji's eyes were quite attuned with darkness, a by-product of spending so much time in the shadows, and between the radiance of the full moon and the close proximity of external streetlights, the room was not too exceptionally dark.

Rei's vision quickly adjusted as well, though not quite as quickly as Kaji's, bringing her assailant back into focus. The instant she could see well enough to distinguish Kaji's outline, she raised her short blade and dashed forward. The blurred figure raised its arm in her direction, and though she could not see it clearly, she knew quite well what that meant.

Rei twisted to the side as several more bullets whizzed past, one of them grazing her right breast and elbow. Shifting her weight onto her left foot, she slid across the floor a bit and planted a surprisingly powerful side kick into Kaji's abdomen, knocking him back against the wall.

Kaji felt the air rush from his lungs as his spine slammed into the wall, followed quickly by the back of his head and elbow, flashing stars before his eyes and sending a numbing jolt of pain up his entire arm. The pistol toppled from his grasp, bouncing across the floor well out of his reach. Dazed and defeated, Kaji slumped back against the wall, sliding down a few inches but staying on his feet.

Raising her right arm above her head, Rei plunged the tanto into Kaji's sternum, the blade piercing straight through the bone and sinking hilt-deep into his chest. Ryoji Kaji, tortured pawn of SEELE and the former fiancée of one dearly departed Misato Katuragi, slumped to the floor, dead.

Lifting Kaji's silenced firearm from where it had fallen, Rei rubbed her bruised throat and looked up at the doorway where a pair of NERV Intelligence agents came running in, drawn (as Kaji had suspected) by the exploding lamp and the commotion thereafter.

"Miss Ayanami," the lead agent began, suddenly noticing Kaji's corpse slumped against the wall. "Are you-"

His words cut short with a grunt as Rei fired a trio of bullets into his abdomen, spattering the wall behind him with blood. He fell to the ground, moaning and twitching. Rei fired a fourth bullet into his forehead. The twitching stopped.

Rei shifted her aim to the second agent, not even batting an eyelash. Failure was not to be tolerated; those were Gendou's orders.

The second agent stared blankly at his partner's corpse, stunned, but soon awoke from his stupor when he realized the weapon was now was now pointing straight at him.

"W-w-w-wait," he stammered, throwing his hands in front of his face and stumbling back into the corner. "D-don't shoot me, please…"

Rei hesitated, noticing the folded piece of paper in his hand, and the official NERV correspondence stamp visible in one corner.

"What is that?" she asked calmly, gesturing toward the paper with the tip of the pistol's silencer. Her voice was a bit hoarse from the abuse Kaji had inflicted on her delicate larynx.

The man flinched at the weapon's sudden movement. Rei stared at the gun, as if suddenly noticing it for the first time, then carefully tucked it into her waistband behind her back.

Realizing that his life had been spared for the moment, the man exhaled slowly, relieved.

"I-it's the daily report from the stakeout, m-Miss Ayanami," he replied, his voice still a bit shaky. "W-we just received it a few minutes ago. The only one who's seen it is…"

He let his voice trail off, glancing briefly at the other agent's corpse. Suppressing a shudder, he looked back up into Rei's cold, red eyes. Suddenly he wished he was still looking at the corpse.

Taking the document from his trembling hands, Rei turned away, scanning the paper's contents. The agent waited uncomfortably for a few moments before Rei turned, fixing her gaze on him once again.

"Contact NERV headquarters," she said. "Schedule a security briefing for tomorrow at precisely 0800."

"Y-yes, Miss Ayanami," the agent said, turning to leave. He looked quite relieved to be getting out of there.

"And have a clean-up crew sent here this evening," she added.

The agent nodded his understanding, then left, walking normally until he felt he was at a safe distance, then burst into a run. Rei heard him, but the sound did not register as a concern in her mind. It made no difference to her how he carried out his orders, so long as he did so. If not…

Rei drew the pistol from her waistband and fired another shot into the agent's corpse. She did not know why.

* * *

Asuka stared down at the bloody, partly-dismembered corpse at her feet. She supposed she might have cheated a bit in their little game, especially after she had extracted all the useful information she needed and started asking silly questions like, "What's your favorite color?" and "What's your favorite harem anime?" Of course, cutting his tongue out probably wasn't very sportsmanlike either, and she had a sneaking suspicion that he had already been dead for those last couple of questions… 

Sheshrugged. Playtime was over, and besides, she had extracted all the information she needed. The only thing left to do was to figure out the best way to make use of it.

Stepping out into the cool night air, she took a deep breath, wincing in pain as she suddenly realized how much abuse she had taken lately. Her hip wound throbbed, and all the various cuts and bruises she'd accumulated seemed to have merged together into one continuous, full-body ache.

Glancing down, Asuka crinkled up her nose in disgust as she realized her clothes were soaked with sweat and blood, not to mention various bits of flesh and other undistinguishable substances. The sticky, matted fabric to cling to her skin like some enormous leech, and a few spots were really starting to itch.

She sighed.

"I need a bath."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxEND OF CHAPTERxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sooooo… whadja think? Better? Granted the plot is sorta thin, but I think it was better written than the first two.

The next chapter is well underway, but I unfortunately cannot guarantee a completion date. But I promise I'll work on it when I can, okay? Pinkie swear.

The next chapter should bring the _Kill Bill vol. 1_ arc of the story to a close. From then on, the goal is to branch the story off in my own direction, not following the _Kill Bill_ _vol. 2_ storyline. This is partly due to _Vol. 2 _being less compatible with Evangelion, but mainly I just didn't want to imitate Tarantino's shit the whole way through. I didn't even intend for the first few volumes to be like that, but I made the mistake of working with a _Kill Bill_ script in front of me for inspiration. Bad idea. So starting with the current chapter you just read, I'm trying to branch away from that formula (although the next one is a bit closer, but still different).


	4. Vol 4: Bloodbath

Yay! Vol. 4 is _finally_ here. And it only took me what, 5 months and 31 goddamn pages. I mean seriously, holy shit. This chapter is friggin _huge _(it more than doubles the overall word count).

Now, let your imagination feast upon some stupid, pointless literary fanservice that I included for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Too much Ikki Tousen/Chobits/Mahoromatic/almost every other anime ever made, I suppose.

_**Kill Gendou**_

_**Volume Four**_

Asuka exhaled slowly, closing her eyes and immersing her body further into the steaming bathtub. As her firm, supple breasts broke the surface and sank into the warm depths, she finally allowed herself to relax, releasing herself of all the pent-up tension. She pushed the lust for revenge deep into the back of her mind where it smoldered, waiting patiently for the time when it might flare up again to consume her enemies in an inferno of rage and destruction. For the moment, she just wanted to rest, clear her mind, and get a fresh start. She had plenty of work left to do, but if she kept up at her current pace, she would be dead before her task was complete.

The sword lay on the linoleum nearby, well within reaching distance in case of an emergency. But Asuka was confident she had not been followed back to this hotel; after all, she had massacred every agent posted at the old apartment complex, and the only other person who had paid her any real attention since then was now lying cold in a dumpster with a slit throat, even if he had just turned out to be nothing more than a wise-ass pervert.

Asuka sighed, opening her eyes and staring into the hotel bathroom's fluorescent lighting. As much as she might have liked to linger in the tub for hours, there was work to be done. She had all the necessary information; now all she needed was a plan.

Placing a hand on either side of the tub, Asuka raised herself out of the water, letting the warm liquid cascade down her body, replaced by the soft touch of cool air. A few droplets of water streamed down her chest, trickling over her soft, pink nipples and the smooth curves of her stomach onto the creamy white flesh of her thigh. Asuka was pleased to note that the thigh wound was no longer bleeding and actually seemed to be healing up at last.

Ignoring the room's slight chill and the delicate goosebumps running down her arms, Asuka wrapped a clean, white towel around herself and stepped out of the tub. There was killing to be done, and if she didn't do it, it was likely no one would.

* * *

A dozen or so NERV Intelligence agents sat around a small conference table in the Sixth Cranial Nerve, shifting anxiously in their seats and occasionally exchanging a bit of idle conversation, simultaneously trying to conceal their fear and determine why the meeting had been called to begin with. Unbeknownst to any of them, this room was at almost the exact same geographic coordinates as the room Kaji had used to prepare for his final mission, only that room was several levels down and shifted slightly to the west.

Several minutes after all the agents had assembled, a small door in the back of the conference room slid open, gliding out of the way with a quiet hiss. Rei Ayanami stepped across the threshold, flanked by two large, grim-looking agents dressed in entirely black suits, her own personal bodyguards chosen by Gendou Ikari himself. The sporadic chatter ceased, and each of the assembled agents snapped upright in their seats as she walked past.

Reaching the head of the conference table, Rei moved in front of her chair as if to sit down, but instead remained on her feet. Surprised by the change in protocol, the agents began scrambling to a standing position as well in respect for their superior, but she stopped them with a wave of her hand. More agitated than ever, they slid back down into their seats, waiting courteously for her to speak.

The high collar of Rei's uniform jacket, almost identical in design to the kind Misato Katsuragi would have worn before her death, concealed the large, black bruises that still lingered on her throat. The deep blue jacket's long sleeves similarly concealed the bandaged wound near her elbow, where a bullet from Kaji's gun had painfully grazed her arm. She seldom wore the garment, preferring the simplicity of the basic school uniforms she had always worn; but when she did, the agents under her command knew something was up, and there were usually reprimands involved. That only made the agents even more nervous; her "reprimands" were often quite severe.

"Gentlemen," Rei began, her soft, almost monotone voice echoing slightly off the concrete walls.

The agents at the table leaned forward, listening intently. Her throat still had not completely recovered from the abuse Kaji's garrote had inflicted, and her normally quiet voice was even softer than usual as she spoke.

"No doubt you are all wondering why I have called you here today on such short notice."

She paused, letting the nervous agents squirm a bit before continuing, shifting her eyes from one man to another, watching impassively as each man in turn struggled to hide his fear when her cold, red eyes fell upon him.

"There are two reasons why I have called this meeting," she continued. "I am certain you have all been briefed on our recent activity in Sector 14."

A few agents nodded in confirmation, but most of them were too nervous to even move. It was irrelevant anyway; they were all well aware of the stakeout at Rei's former dwelling, the trap intended to snare the elusive Second Child, Asuka Langley Sohryu.

Rei motioned toward the bodyguard at her left. The man stepped forward, removing a file from within his suit jacket, and leafed through the pages for a moment before coming to the one he was looking for.

"Based on evidence found at the site last evening, it is estimated that the Second Child arrived sometime around late afternoon to early evening, and departed within the hour. A confirmed total of twenty-six bodies were recovered from the site, one of which appeared to have been subjected to torture and possibly interrogation. It is unknown at this time what information he might have revealed, if any."

Having finished his report, the black-suited agent stepped back to his original position, bowing respectfully to Rei. All eyes focused on her as she resumed speaking.

"Commander Ikari has made his expectations quite clear: failure such as this is not to be tolerated. However, given that all operatives responsible for this incident are already dead, no further reprimands will be given at this time."

The agents in the room were visibly relieved, some of them exhaling sharply as they realized they had been holding their breath.

"However," Rei continued, motioning toward her two bodyguards, "there is still another reason why you were called here today."

The two men stepped back and exited through the small door in the back of the conference room which they had used to enter. As quickly as it had gone, the tension returned, saturating the small conference room with a palpable sense of dread.

Moments later, the door slid open again, and the two men returned, dragging the corpse of Ryoji Kaji between them. His long hair, usually secured carefully behind his head in a narrow ponytail, hung loosely over his face, a few strands clinging to the dry, sticky blood on his chest.

With a firm grasp on each of Kaji's arms, they drug the body over by the conference table and dropped it unceremoniously to the floor in a heap.

"As you can see," Rei continued, the icy monotone of her voice only heightening the agents' fear, "there was severe breach in security at my personal residence last night."

The stress in the room reached critical. One man in particular, seated about halfway down from Rei's position at the head of the table, was visibly terrified. From his damp forehead, thoroughly matted with his now-disheveled hair, to the palms of his hands clenched tightly against the arms of the chair, sweat seemed to pour off the man in torrents, soaking into his business suit and collecting on his skin in fat droplets that quivered as his body trembled in obvious terror.

"Agent Imura," Rei said, uttering the two words the trembling man had hoped more than anything she would not say.

"Y-yes, Miss Ayanami?" he replied shakily, struggling in vain to put on a calm expression.

"Perhaps you could tell me who is in charge of my personal security."

"Er… w-well, I-I, that is, um…"

His squirming ceased, and he sank resignedly down into his chair.

"I am," he finally admitted.

"That is correct, Imura," Rei said, finally sitting down in her chair.

After several moments had passed without the thump of a bullet ripping through his head or chest or the sting of a knife at his throat, Agent Imura relaxed a bit. Perhaps Rei valued his skills enough not to execute him over one small incident, especially since the intruder had been successfully dealt with…

"Y-you see, Miss Ayanami…" he began.

Rei did not let him finish. In one swift, fluid motion, she jumped up from her seated position and drew a short wakizashi blade from concealment beneath the conference table. With a short, high-pitched battle cry that might have been amusing under lighter circumstances, she leapt up onto the table and sprinted down its length, her feet padding softly on the smooth surface.

Panicking, Agent Imura barely had time to start pushing away from the table before Rei reached his position. With one quick chop, she easily severed his neck, the head tumbling from atop his shoulders and bouncing down the table past several other startled agents before coming to a rest.

In death, his body completed the final act of his life, pushing a few more inches from the table before flopping out of the chair, twitching, blood spurting from the open neck and pooling on the floor.

Rei casually wiped the blood from her sword with a handkerchief, then disdainfully tossed the bloody rag down onto the twitching corpse before walking back to the head of the table and gracefully stepping down onto the floor.

No one made a sound. Most of the agents sat absolutely still, their eyes focused in Rei's general direction, but few of them had the courage to meet her eyes.

"Now," Rei said quietly, "I'm only going to say this once more: Commander Ikari does _not_ tolerate failure."

Rei drew herself up to her full height, which in itself was hardly impressive, but when combined with her eerily calm mannerism, and those cruel, red eyes, it was often quite unnerving to even be in the same room with her.

"The price you pay," Rei continued calmly, "for gross incompetence and failure is: I collect your fucking head."

To emphasize her point, she held up the severed head of the former Agent Imura. His face was twisted up in a disturbing grimace of surprise and horror.

"Just like this fucker here."

Tossing the bloody trophy aside, Rei leapt back onto the table, sword in hand, an uncharacteristic look of rage splayed across her face. At that same moment, by some strange and malevolent coincidence, the conference room's dim light flickered, engulfing the room in a momentary shadow. By some trick of the light, her eyes seemed to glow a deep, smoldering red.

Perched atop the conference table, sword in hand, eyes burning like fiery rubies in the fleeting darkness, she struck a most intimidating visage. The agents shrank back, flinching in terror as she spoke, her voice booming throughout the room like thunder through a narrow canyon.

"Now if any of you sons of bitches got anything else to say, NOW'S THE FUCKING TIME!"

The room was silent. No one dared to move, let alone break the silence with nervous speech, lest they suffer the same fate as the unfortunate Imura.

"I didn't think so," Rei finished, returning to her usual calm, dispassionate self.

Stepping down to the floor once again, she turned around to face the terrified agents.

"Agent Kurosawa," Rei said, pointing to a nearby agent with the tip of her sword.

"Y-yes, Miss Ayanami?" the man stuttered, shrinking back in fear of the deadly blade.

"You are hereby promoted to head of security. I trust your performance will be more admirable than that of your predecessor."

The man could only nod, staring blankly down at the table in front of him where the severed head had come to rest.

Returning her sword to its sheath, Rei turned and strode from the room, ignoring the pain in her throat from the sudden outburst. She was pleased with how the meeting had turned out; no doubt the entire intelligence division would be more cautious in the future.

As she stepped out into the narrow hallway, Rei's thoughts turned to the Second Child. There was no doubt as to why she had returned; the only question was where she would strike next. But wherever that was, Rei would be there. Five years ago, Commander Ikari had issued orders for the termination of the Second Child, Asuka Langley Sohryu. Rei would ensure the completion of those orders once and for,all and if necessary, she would see to it personally. She would not risk the incompetence of her subordinates again.

* * *

Asuka glanced back at the small, private dwelling for what seemed like the hundredth time, pondering yet again the wisdom of her decision.

From appearances alone, the little house was far from impressive. Though it was obviously a relatively new structure in moderately good condition, it was still rather plain, perhaps even a bit ugly. A new coat of paint and some minor repairs here and there would have done well to fix that; but then, that would throw off the true genius of its design.

At first glance, the unremarkable little building scarcely caught the eye, much less attracted a second look, despite the fact that it was the only private home for miles around. Hundreds of people could pass by in a day and not even give it a second thought. This nifty feature, not to mention its relatively close proximity to the Geofront and the relative ease of security and surveillance compared to a sprawling apartment complex, made it the perfect living quarters for Rei Ayanami.

The small dwelling, commissioned several years previously by Commander Ikari himself, had been Rei's place of residence during the long absence of Angel attacks jokingly referred to by some as the "Angel Drought." This so-called drought had begun approximately eight months after Asuka's betrayal, following the defeat of Almisael, the 16th Angel. Since then, the arrival of the 17th and final Angel had been patiently awaited by NERV personnel, but as more and more time passed, many people outside the organization were beginning to wonder if there would even be another Angel attack. With no current means of validating their continued existence, NERV was hard-pressed to fend off the machinations of their increasing political opponents, both outspoken and otherwise. Thus, the Intelligence branch of the NERV organization had become continually more important, rising even to the level of the EVA research and maintenance department itself. As Rei began to demonstrate an aptitude for directing the intelligence division, Commander Ikari had given her greater responsibilities within the organization. Gendou was nothing if not practical, and given the opportunity to use Rei as both an EVA pilot and an effective staff member, he had readily made the decision to promote her.

All this and more Asuka had gleaned from her "interrogation," but most of the information was not particularly relevant to her quest. Stretching a slightly tender shoulder joint, Asuka glanced away from Rei's home and over to the west, where a magnificent sunset stretched across the horizon, splashing the clouds with its warm, vivid colors. Like colossal guardians protecting a precious treasure, the Tokyo-3 cityscape rose up in deep silhouettes, casting long shadows down the streets of the mechanized metropolis.

Asuka sighed. There was once a time where she could have enjoyed such a view, lounging up on a hill at the city's outskirts, drinking in the magnificent sight; but that time was long past. Now the crimson hues just reminded her of blood: the blood she had spilled, the blood that she had shed, and the blood that she would certainly spill and shed before her quest came to its violent conclusion.

Her thoughts coming full circle, Asuka looked back at the house again. No, she firmly decided, she would not go inside to face Rei here. There was no guarantee the blue-haired girl would even be home; besides, this was hardly a fitting place for a showdown. It might have been fine for that bitch Misato to die in her own home, deep in her own filth, but the hate Asuka nurtured in her heart for Rei ran much deeper. Every moment of revenge was a sweet delicacy to be savored; that was what truly kept her going, what had kept her alive all these years, pushing her onward from the brink of death to the exact spot where she stood. Every breath she took, every move she made, was fueled by her hate and her thirst for retribution.

No, she would not end it here. She would not cheapen it, depriving herself of the sweet satisfaction she craved. But still…

"Time for Plan B," Asuka muttered, moving back over to the black, unmarked van sitting silently across the street. Opening the rear hatch, she admired her handiwork, making sure everything was in place.

A NERV Intelligence agent lay sprawled face-down on the floor in the rear of the van amid a tangled mass of smashed surveillance equipment, a pool of blood and visible entrails spread beneath him. Satisfied with the body's arrangement, she closed the hatch stepped around to the front of the van, and peered inside. A headless body sat in the passenger's seat, slouched over slightly to the left, blood dripping from the stump of its neck to form a sticky puddle on the floor. Less than two feet away sat a third corpse with a slit throat, held stiffly upright in the driver's seat by hands stiff from rigor mortis, clenched tightly the steering wheel as if to drive. A large knife protruded from the man's skull, inserted post-mortem to pin a small, white piece of paper firmly in place against his temple.

Asuka frowned; the layout was adequate, but it still lacked something in presentation…

Seized by sudden inspiration, she flung open the passenger-side door. Grasping the passenger's right arm, she lifted it up, resting it against the driver's shoulder and manipulating the fingers until the headless man was pointing straight at the note pinned to his partner's face.

Satisfied with the arrangement, Asuka glanced one last time at the house, making sure the legs of a fourth agent were just visible protruding from the hedges near the front door, then kicked the severed head into concealment beneath the van and allowed herself a small grin. Her message had been sent; there was nothing left to do now but wait.

* * *

**Midnight.**

**Tokyo-3 Elementary and Secondary Education Complex**

**5 students remaining**

Though it was the first time she had been to her old school in more than five years, Asuka felt only the slightest hint of nostalgia for the old place. It seemed like a lifetime had passed since then, leaving distant, faded memories of a time that she could no longer even relate to. For all she knew, those memories might even have been damaged; after all, that certainly would explain the foreign, almost otherworldly feeling she seemed to get whenever she tried to think about it. But that was a rare occurrence; there was only one "incident" from those days that truly occupied her thoughts, and such did it consume her that she often thought of nothing else.

Besides, the school hardly even resembled the simple, functional building she recalled in those faded memories. As her old eighth grade class, fourth-level candiates all, graduated and continued on through their academic careers, NERV had deemed it a priority to keep them centralized so that they could be continually observed and recruited as was necessary. Thus the building was expanded to form the heart of the Tokyo-3 education system, housing classrooms and various support facilities for every grade level from preschool and kindergarten through the graduating senior class, which of course all her old classmates were now currently a part of.

But despite all this, Gendou Ikari was a practical man, and NERV was a practical organization. Rather than tearing down the existing structure and starting from scratch, the new construction had simply been appended to the original school building, providing a central hub from which the rest of the complex could expand.

It was precisely this location which Asuka sought. After considering the city's layout and both civilian and military traffic, she had decided that this place and time would be ideal for facing her old nemesis with minimal outside interference. Although she could not deny that at least a tiny portion of her decision may have been based on a nostalgic whim.

Entering through the school's sturdy, if somewhat aged, double doors, Asuka strolled through the darkened hallways, taking in the familiar sights. Despite some general remodeling and a fresh coat of paint, the old place still seemed to retain its original feel and color scheme. For an instant, Asuka truly allowed her mind to drift back fully to the old days, back to a time where, despite the constant threat of Angel attack, she had at least felt some small measure of peace.

Evan as she began to relax, the simmering hatred boiled forth again, flooding her mind with rage. Her steady pace wavered, and it was all she could do not to put her fist through the nearest classroom window.

_Focus_, the voice in her mind seemed to say. _Don't you have something to do? Don't you have someone… to kill?_

Under normal circumstances she would have found the idea of voices in her head disturbing. But "normal" circumstances no longer applied; she had left them behind more than five years ago. Besides, she found herself so completely in agreement with the voice's sentiments that she didn't even give it a second thought.

Arriving at her destination, Asuka stopped before yet another set of double doors. Beyond this threshold lay the school's assembly hall, and the next step in her quest for retribution. Beyond these doors, she was certain she would find what she was looking for: the First Child. Rei Ayanami.

Steadying her trembling hands, Asuka exhaled slowly and pushed through the doors into the room beyond.

* * *

"You're late."

Rei Ayanami's soft voice echoed briefly throughout the large assembly hall, resonating from one surface to the next before fading into nothingness.

Asuka smirked, glancing up at the large central stage where Rei stood motionless, flanked on either side by her personal bodyguards.

"You're early."

Their eyes met, locking firmly on one another. Though neither woman moved, the struggle between their wills was as palpable as if they engaged in open battle.

"I knew you would be here," Asuka said, lifting her gaze from Rei's striking red eyes and quickly scanning the NERV intelligence agents lined along the auditorium's outer walls, spreading out from the central stage. "And I see you brought friends."

"Yes," Rei replied calmly. "Five years ago, Commander Ikari ordered your termination. I am simply here to ensure that those orders are carried out."

"Of course you are," Asuka muttered sarcastically, her fingers hovering unconsciously over the weapons holstered and sheathed at her waist. "That's fine. You know what they say: the more, the merrier."

Asuka's hands hovered even closer to her holstered weapons, this time under her conscious control. Her pulse quickened with anticipation, and she realized that her carefully-maintained composure weakening.

"Now I'm going to be perfectly honest with you," she continued. "All this excitement is getting me a bit flustered. So why don't we just get started?"

"That would be acceptable," Rei replied, making a sweeping gesture toward her red-haired adversary. "Kill her."

On cue, the agents spread throughout the room raised their weapons to fire on their target. But Asuka was quicker, snatching two nine millimeter handguns from their holsters at her waist and springing backwards. Even as she fell, Asuka spread her arms to either side and fired a single bullet from both weapons. To her right, a NERV Intelligence agent toppled over backwards, a light mist of reddish goo trailing from his left eye socket as he crashed limply to the ground. To her left, a second man stumbled backwards a few steps, then slumped forward, a slight rasping sound emanating from his exposed trachea.

The other agents remained undeterred, however, and unleashed a torrent of bullets in her direction as commanded. But Asuka's dive had already moved her safely backward and to the right behind the last row of seats, and the projectiles impacted harmlessly against the walls and chairs of the auditorium.

Popping up from behind the seats, Asuka opened fire again, quickly slaying three more of her opponents before dropping back into the relative safety of the floor as the agents returned her gesture with interest. The chairs rattled under the intense onslaught, and bits of shattered concrete from the walls flaked into her eyes, threatening to obscure her vision.

Asuka hissed and pulled her arm aside, forcibly suppressing a sudden surge of bloodlust as a single slug punched through the back of a nearby chair and grazed her right bicep. Growling, she crawled further down the row, taking cover behind an undamaged section of seats. Obviously the auditorium could not provide the proper environment she needed. It was only a matter of time before the agents began to advance on her position, and no matter how accurate she might be there was no way she could hold them all off once they circled around behind the row of chairs she was using as cover.

As she continued her _peek_, _shoot_, and _move_ routine, Asuka's mind began to formulate a plan of action that could turn the situation to her advantage; also, as she was not too proud to admit, it could be kind of fun. Sliding a fresh magazine into both of her handguns, she began to half-run, half-crawl her way down the row to the left, toward the gap of the center aisle, careful to remain low enough that the agents couldn't get a clear shot at her.

Putting her back to the seat adjacent to the central aisle, Asuka peered around the corner, getting her first relatively clear view of the entire opposing force. The throng of agents was creeping forward, slowly but surely, confident in their numbers but terrified of her reputation and the deadly accuracy she had demonstrated. There were more of them than she had anticipated. A lot more.

"Shit," she grumbled, relaxing a bit against the seat's back, closing her eyes and exhaling as she cursed her lack of focus. She had stared down Rei the entire time, sparing only the briefest glance at anyone else in the room, and now here she was, pinned down and ignorant of what she was up against.

Opening her eyes again only made her more pissed off. Through the small, vertical glass slits in the auditorium's main double doors, her gaze came to focus on another group of agents running down the hallway toward her, weapons at the ready.

"_Verdammt_," she muttered, forcing down her bloodlust yet again. This fight was starting to get very annoying, very fast, but it was still not the time for rash decisions.

_Fine,_ she thought to herself._ I can still stick to the plan. I just have to move a little faster._

Emptying one of her pistols into the nearest vertical slit in the double doors to kill, wound, scatter, and otherwise slow down her new pursuers, Asuka dove out across the main aisle, tucking her head and rolling quickly out of the open into safety behind the last row again. Popping up from behind her cover, she snapped off a few quick shots, and then ducked back down out of sight. Estimating the trajectory based on the sounds of gunfire and her last brief glimpse of the agents' locations, she raised the nine millimeter again and blind-fired the remainder of clip over the seats. Based on several grunts of pain and a slight decrease in the volume of gunfire, she must have been either lucky or correct. Frowning, Asuka placed the now-empty handguns back into their holsters and drew her sword; she had been hoping to reload the weapons, but there simply wasn't time.

The roar of a shotgun blast and an explosion of dust and debris in her nearby vicinity told her that someone had decided they'd had enough of this bullshit and that it was time to break out the heavy firepower. Blinking her vision clear, she groped around in the pouch at her hip for the item she needed.

"So you want to play rough," she spat, seizing her prize and lifting it from the pouch. "Fine. Let's play."

Pulling the grenade's pin, Asuka sprinted down the row almost fully upright, bullets whizzing dangerously close to her exposed body. Just before she reached the aisle running parallel to the auditorium's side wall, she chucked the active explosive toward the center of the room and dropped to the floor, letting her sword clatter to the floor nearby as she clamped both hands squarely over her ears.

The grenade detonated, spewing white-hot flame and shrapnel in all directions. The men nearby were mostly incinerated and blown apart, flinging the few remaining parts of their body that were still intact enough to be recognizable across the room like prizes from a piñata. The few unfortunate men who were not quite close enough to be vaporized were struck full-force by the shrapnel, and for all intents and purposes were shredded to death. A number of other agents who were not within the immediate vicinity of the explosion received various shrapnel wounds and burns from being struck by the smoldering pieces of their former compatriots. All in all, it made a lot of people have a _very_ bad day. Except for one.

Suppressing a grin, Asuka snatched up her sword from where it had fallen and pulled a second grenade from the pouch at her hip. The first grenade had been much more powerful than she had anticipated; her ears were ringing a bit, despite the fact that she had kept them covered a good distance from the blast.

Making careful use of the smoke, debris, the agents' temporary deafness and their general shock to cover her movement, Asuka began moving down the side aisle toward the stage. Relying heavily on her old memories of the place (which had become frustratingly dim as of late), Asuka pulled the pin from the second grenade and tossed it over by a section of the auditorium's wall.

Dropping to a crouch, she clamped her palms over her ears again as the grenade detonated with similar results as the first, only this time there were fewer agents in the nearby vicinity and the primary victim was the section of wall. Old as it was, and without the objective of withstanding military-grade explosives within its original design parameters, a good portion of the wall was obliterated by the explosion, bits of concrete and wood peppering the surrounding areas along with a few sizable pieces of the men who happened to be standing nearby.

Springing up again, Asuka dashed through the obscuring cloud of smoke and debris toward the newly-exposed classroom.

* * *

Kicking open the main double doors of the auditorium, Agent Kurosawa entered the room just in time to see the trail of Asuka's red hair disappearing through the dispersing cloud of smoke and through the new doorway she had just created into the classroom beyond. Appalled by the level of destruction and slaughter in the auditorium and infuriated by the level of sheer incompetence it represented, Kurosawa wavered for a moment between running around screaming in a fit of rage and sobbing helplessly in the corner. Deciding that neither choice would be particularly useful at the moment, he instead turned to the group of agents he had brought with him from the hall.

"What the hell are you waiting for?" he hissed, gesturing toward the smoldering hole in the wall that Asuka had just disappeared through. "Kill her!"

The agents in question looked dubiously at one another, but ultimately shrugged and began moving toward the wall. Turning back to the rest of the men in the room, Agent Kurosawa drew his sidearm and gestured toward the smoking gap again.

"The same goes for the rest of you," he declared. "If you're still alive, then you had damn well better get going if you want to stay that way."

Having seen the Second Child in action firsthand, the remaining agents could hardly agree with this statement; however, given the choice between immediate death and the slight possibility of survival if they could manage to chase down and eliminate the elusive Asuka Langley Sohryu, they decided that for the moment it was in their best interests to follow orders. Especially since Rei Ayanami was still in the room, and they certainly did not want to piss her off any more than they wanted to catch up with Asuka. Still, a few of them hesitated, shifting back and forth on their feet as if unsure what to do. Stepping over to the fallen form of a groaning agent with a rather large splinter of wood pierced through his right shoulder, Agent Kurosawa fired a single bullet into the wounded man's head.

"Now get going!"

Apparently having found the motivation they needed, all the remaining agents who could stand rushed for the opening in the wall. Somewhat satisfied for the moment, Kurosawa relaxed a bit. He considered walking around and finishing off the rest of the badly wounded agents, but decided against it. Sighing, he slid the handgun back into its holster, leaned against a nearby wall, and waited.

* * *

Taking a deep breath and trying in vain to steady his trembling hands, the agent nearest to the hole in the wall stepped cautiously up to the entrance and peered inside, pistol at the ready. Through the settling dust and what little faded moonlight was pouring through the windows, the classroom looked decidedly gloomy and lucid. Every shadow seemed to move on its own, a forest of wriggling blurs, any one of which could suddenly leap out and end his life. A cold, hard lump settled into his gut, and he knew deep down in his heart that he would be the first to die.

He was wrong.

The agent behind him stumbled a bit, his foot sliding over a smooth, round object as he stepped over the threshold. A slight pain in his ankle prompted him to curse the bothersome piece of debris and lift his foot to kick the thing away. The result, however, was quite the opposite.

In a violent flash of incendiary devastation, Asuka's third and final grenade detonated beneath his feet, virtually eradicating him from existence and sending small, sizzling bits of his shattered corpse deflecting about the room. Within a fraction of an instant, the first agent to enter the room followed suit, his fear and self-pity ending abruptly as a wave of fiery shrapnel engulfed him.

Grinning, Asuka listened from her position just outside the classroom door as the grenade went off, unleashing its destructive forces on the helpless men inside. Satisfied, she turned and strolled away into the darkened hallway.

* * *

Rei Ayanami stared impassively at the carnage from her position at the center of the stage, where she had remained throughout the duration of the battle in the auditorium. Glancing down at her left hand, she noted a small trickle of blood running down from her knuckle where a piece of shrapnel had grazed her.

"Miss Ayanami," one of her bodyguards exclaimed, running to her side. "You are hurt."

"It is nothing," Rei replied, lifting her wounded hand.

"No," the agent said, gesturing toward her forehead. "Your other wound."

Rei suddenly felt a damp tingle of liquid running through her eyebrow, then blinked several times as it began to slide down into her eye. Wiping away the bothersome fluid, she observed the red smear of her own blood staining her hand.

"It is nothing," Rei repeated, dismissing the bodyguard with a wave of her hand.

Turning back to the auditorium floor, she continued to observe the extent of the damage that the former Pilot Sohryu had inflicted. The floor was littered with dead and severely wounded NERV Intelligence agents, but there were still plenty of men left under her command, and by now Agent Kurosawa had certainly called for reinforcements as ordered.

Rei glanced back at the hole in the wall through which the Second Child had escaped. It had been an impressive display of skill and cunning, Rei had to admit. But it was far from over. The Second Child _would_ be found and eliminated, no matter the cost.

* * *

Crouching low, Asuka pressed her back to the wall and listened carefully for the sounds of her pursuers as they stalked nervously through the darkened hallways, each sincerely hoping they would not be the one to encounter her, but desperately trying to be prepared in case they were. With a soft click, she slid her last two magazines into each of her nine millimeter handguns; stealth was good and all, but this could take all night if she didn't at least make a bit of noise…

Leaning around the corner, Asuka honed in on a group of agents coming down the hall toward her position. By her estimate there were only about seven or eight of them. She shrugged; it was a start.

Taking one last look at the approaching agents, Asuka backed away from the corner and concealed herself behind a nearby trash can, ducking low and pulling herself in to ensure that no part of her body would be visible around its edges.

Rightly fearing an ambush, they grew even more cautious as they reached the intersection. One of them, possessing the wit to be prepared and bring a flashlight, cautiously peered around the corner, penetrating the darkness with the narrow beam. Light reflected softly off the tile floors and glinted on the smooth metal garbage can beneath the probing beam, but revealed no trace of the Second Child.

Asuka waited for the light to pass further from her position as the men continued on down the hallway, then slid noiselessly out of concealment, stretching her lithe muscles and gracefully drawing her sword from its sheath. Smoothly, silently, she stalked up behind the unsuspecting agent at the rear of the group and thrust her blade through his lower back.

The stricken man groaned in pain, hunching over and staring incredulously at the sword tip protruding from his stomach before it was ripped violently back out the way it came, replaced by a sudden gushing of blood from his abdomen. Asuka spun around the dying man as he fell, quickly slashing through the elbow joints of a second victim as he futilely tried to raise his gun, then buried her katana to the hilt in the chest of a third.Leaving the blade lodged in the man's sternum, Asuka dove to the side, slamming against the wall as several hastily-aimed bullets soared harmlessly down the hallway. A sharp ache raced through her shoulder and hip, but her conscious mind did not even register the pain.

Pressing her back to the wall, Asuka whipped the two pistols out in front of her, tilting them sideways as she slid down the smooth concrete and unleashed a barrage of white-hot projectiles into her remaining foes.

Bullets impacted against the concrete above her head as she came to an abrupt halt, her rump crashing painfully into the tile floor. The last of the agents' weapons went silent, clattering against the floor as its wielder stumbled backward, clutching at a hand that was now missing several fingers. Pushing off the floor, Asuka yanked her sword from the nearby corpse and sprang toward her last remaining target. Barely recovered from the shock of his missing digits, he reeled backward, throwing up what was left of his hands, as if to ward off the cold steel with his flesh. Alas, this was not to be, and a large portion of his arms were severed from his body as the blade descended to bury itself into his shoulder, cutting into his right shoulder and biting deep into the center of his chest.

Even as the final agent fell dead, a new trio of enemies burst through the doors at the end of the hall, attracted by the commotion, and charged down the hall, firing. Pressing against the wall again to avoid their initial shots, Asuka cartwheeled gracefully across the hallway and took position around the corner near the trash can she had been hiding behind earlier.

Firing around the corner, Asuka managed to plant two bullets squarely in the chest of one agent. The other two continued unhindered, however, firing at her with surprising precision. Snatching the previous agents' flashlight from where it lay just a few feet away, Asuka scurried out of her hiding place and flashed the beam directly in the agents' eyes.

Using their momentary disorientation to her advantage, Asuka rushed down the hall, covering the last bit of distance between them with a diving roll and narrowly dodging a new cluster of bullets as the two agents began to recover. With her left hand, she thrust the tip of her gun into the first man's stomach and fired, pumping the sizzling lead directly into his gut, while her right arm brought the Hanzo sword across in a horizontal slash that bisected the second man's head at eye level, spattering the side of her face with a wash of blood and bits of gore.

Wiping the blood from her eye, Asuka listened intently for the sounds of any other nearby enemies. A pair of faint, hushed voices caught her attention.

"Shut up," a man's voice hissed from behind a classroom door just down the hall. "Do you _want_ her to find us?"

"It's no use," a second voice replied. "She's not human. We're all going to die."

"_We're_ only going to die if you don't shut the hell up," the first voice argued. "Besides, if she doesn't know we're here, maybe we can get the drop on her. I don't care what she is, a few shots to the spine will take care of anyone."

As the two men quietly bickered with one another, Asuka stalked down the hallway, discarding her empty handgun and checking the magazine of the second before sliding it back into its holster. Grasping the katana with both hands, she approached the classroom door, following the whispered voices to her destination.

"It's no _use_," the first voice whimpered. "She's gonna kill us, just like those poor bastards out in the hallway, and the auditorium, and Sector 14… oh God, we're all gonna die…"

"Goddamnit," the second man hissed, "I told you, if you don't shut the hell up then we _will_ die for sure…"

**Asuka had come within just a few feet of doorway, when the sudden crash of a door being slammed open and the familiar cacophony of gunfire erupted behind her at the end of the hall. Something slammed into her shoulder, hard, and she grunted, stumbling forward a bit.**

"Hey, what was that?" the trembling voice asked from within the room, the panic in his voice quickly rising to levels of hysteria. "Oh shit, it's her! It has to be her! She's here! Oh fuck, we're gonna die!"

Her surprise blown, Asuka crashed through the doorway, knocking the door off its hinges and charging straight at the two agents within. The first man tried to raise his gun, but he was too slow. Asuka was on him in an instant, flipping her sword over in her hands and plunging it downward through his chest, penetrating completely through his torso and deep into the desk behind him. Without hesitation, Asuka used her momentum to vault up and over the skewered man, planting her knees firmly on the shoulders of the second agent behind him. Grasping his head firmly between her thighs, Asuka twisted sharply, snapping his neck with a loud crack, then kicked off his shoulders, landing gracefully on the floor as his body collapsed.

Whirling back around to face the doorway, Asuka grasped her hands around the hilt of her embedded sword and tried to yank it free, but it was stuck fast into the hard, wooden desk.

_No time!_ The voice in her head exclaimed as the agents in the hallway rapidly approached the classroom.

Pulling her remaining pistol from its holster, Asuka planted her first shot directly into the forehead of the first agents to cross the threshold. Aiming her shots carefully to conserve the firearm's partially-depleted magazine, she created a seemingly impenetrable wall across the doorway, dropping each man as he came with a precisely-aimed shot to head or neck.

_Just one left!_ The voice cried.

Asuka's lip curled in irritation at both her lack of ammunition and the fact that the voice kept popping up unsolicited to provide rather obvious information that she was already quite aware of.

But there was no time to lament these things; there was only time to act. Rushing for the door, Asuka jammed the barrel of her gun straight into the next agent's mouth, choking him and slamming his head back into the chest of the man behind him. She fired, and the two men tumbled to the ground in a burst of gore.

Lowering her arm, Asuka released empty weapon, letting it tumble to the floor to settle amongst the bodies and debris. Ignoring the ragged breathing of the wounded man, she gathered up sidearms from several dead agents and slid them into her holsters. She frowned, scowling at the sword still stuck fast in the tough wooden desk.

Grasping her hands firmly around the katana's hilt, she hauled both it and the desk over to the agent lying helpless on the floor, the leaking hole in his chest surrounded by a mess of blood and brain tissue. Hoisting the heavy objects high into the air, she brought them crashing down on the agent's face, smashing the desk into splinters and thoroughly crushing his skull into pulp.

Sliding her newly-freed weapon back into its sheath, Asuka turned and strode through the doorway and into the darkened hallway beyond.

* * *

Agent Kurosawa paced nervously up and down the row of auditorium chairs, keeping his ears open for the sounds of sporadic gunfire and other such noises that indicated his subordinates were at least _trying_ to do their job. The sheer enormity of their ineptitude boggled his mind to the point where he refused to even let himself think about for more than a few seconds, partly because of the intense rage it called up within him, but mostly because it just made him want to curl up in the corner and weep like a little girl.

For just a brief moment, he allowed his mind to make a few calculations, a decision he immediately regretted. By his best reckoning, he had dispatched at least 55 men in pursuit of the Second Child, and despite the frequent sounds of combat that had resonated through the empty hallways for the last hour or so, he had received no reports on the status of the pursuit. In fact, he had not heard anything at all from any of his subordinates, save for their screams of agony as they were systematically slain.

_Fifty five men!_ his inner voice screamed. _How can she possibly be alive? How?_

Inhaling several deep breaths, Agent Kurosawa tightened his grip on the pistol, desperately trying to slow his breathing and stop the trembling in his hands that threatened to spread throughout the rest of his body. He knew he could not call in any more agents; even with Rei's influence, he knew he had reached the limit of his expendable resources on this task. It would not be long before he would be expected to finish the task himself.

Still, he was an established member of NERV Intelligence, and he did at least have _some_ outside influence. There were strings he could pull, favors he could call in. Reaching for his phone, he lifted it to his chest and entered one last number.

* * *

Placing a hand firmly over her victim's mouth, Asuka slid the blade of her knife over his throat. Grasping his collar, she slowly lowered his body to the floor, then wiped her blade clean on the prone body of another man. Peering around a corner, she observed several other agents patrolling the library, unaware of her presence as they nervously traced the shelves with the beams of their flashlights as if expecting their quarry to leap from between the pages at any moment.

Quickly and quietly, Asuka scaled the nearby shelves and perched atop the bookcase, utilizing her commanding view of the room to assess her soon-to-be victims' current locations. Just as she had anticipated, they were patrolling in pairs, watching each other's backs as they navigated each row of bookshelves in the darkened library.

Asuka resisted the urge to leap down and engage them head-on; this was the most capable and well-organized group she had seen stalking through the hallways, and thus she had saved them for last. It simply would not do to get sloppy this late in the game; besides, she had not yet found what she was looking for.

Creeping silently across the row of bookcases, she made a quick and silent leap across the aisle onto the adjacent shelves. Peering down, her eyes locked onto the target she had been seeking.

Keeping his back to the outer wall of the library, a single agent moved along his patrol route with relative bravado, cutting through the gloom with the beam of the flashlight haphazardly fastened to the barrel of his pump-action shotgun with industrial tape. Whether he had confidence in himself and his weaponry or was considered well-armed enough by his fellows to be selected as the odd man out, he had no partner to cover his flanks. And when Asuka Langley Sohryu was involved, that was automatically a crippling weakness.

Her lithe figure obscured within the deep shadows above, Asuka was utterly invisible but for her eyes. Smoldering like twin coals, they caught the faintest hint of moonlight from the library's windows and gleamed with malicious intent as she inched her way to the edge of the bookcase, poised to strike at any moment.

Like a professional huntress, she resisted the instinctive impulse to pounce on her unsuspecting prey, waiting for just the perfect moment to swoop for a silent kill, motionless but for the slightest twitch of her eyes as she surveyed her intended victim.

The man turned, exposing his back to her watchful gaze. Again, she restrained herself, making sure the surrounding area was still clear. It was.

Whisking her sword from her sheath, Asuka leapt from her perch atop the bookshelves, driving the deadly blade into the back of the agent's neck, piercing down through his lower trachea and into the chest cavity to skewer his heart and lung. He convulsed for a moment, wordlessly, then slumped, held upright only by the sword still plunged into his torso. His arms went limp, releasing their grip on the shotgun. Asuka snatched the potent firearm before it could clatter noisily against the tile floor, then lowered his drooping body to the ground.

Asuka wrenched the crudely-mounted flashlight from the shotgun barrel, carefully peeled off the duct tape, and took several slow, deliberate paces toward the adjacent bookshelves. Marking the locations of the two agents patrolling the neighboring row by their heavy footsteps and the glow of their flashlight beams, Asuka slowly matched their movements as she carefully unraveled the industrial tape from the appropriated flashlight. Asuka pulled one of her fine-edged combat knives from a sheath at her hip and placed it firmly against the back of her right hand, wrapping the tape firmly around the handle to secure it in place. Clenching her fist, she noted contentedly that the blade jutted out a good six inches past her knuckles.

Raising the shotgun experimentally, Asuka sighted down its length. Certain that the makeshift wrist blade would not interfere with her ability to fire the weapon, she held the detached flashlight out in front of her and dropped it unceremoniously to the floor.

Though the object's uneven weight distribution prevented it from clattering too obnoxiously before coming to a rest, the initial collision may as well have been a gunshot echoing throughout the quiet library.

The agent opposite Asuka's position against the bookshelves snapped to attention, lifting his flashlight to peer between the volumes, searching for any sign of what be responsible for the sudden noise. The past across a lock of fiery red hair and the soft, pale flesh of a woman's cheek specked with blood, framed by a gap between Shakespeare's _Hamlet_ and _Taming of the Shrew_. The light continued upward, revealing the intense blue eyes and the sudden glint of metal.

The agent's cry of alarm was easily drowned out by the roar of the shotgun as the classical European literature exploded outward, ravaging his body with buckshot and other various bits of shrapnel. Tumbling backward, his ragged corpse slammed against the shelves and slumped to the ground, buried in a sudden shower of periodicals.

Pumping a fresh shell into the chamber, Asuka wasted no time discharging a fresh spray of lead into his partner, shredding through Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_ without even the slightest pause to reminisce about the report she had once written on the subject. Turning to face footsteps approaching from her rear, she obliterated the middle segment of _Encyclopedia Britannica_ to drop two more agents with a single shot.

Turning to face a new set of approaching footsteps, Asuka lashed out with a fierce right hook, catching her unfortunate victim in the sternum as he rounded the corner and thrusting the fixed blade into his jugular. Retracting the blade from the agent's throat, she rounded the corner, startling his terrified companion even further before she jammed the blade into his heart.

Asuka peered down the central aisle as a trio of agents fled toward the doorway in terror, discarding their firearms on the floor as if appearing harmless could spare them from the she-demon's wrath. Asuka aimed her shotgun at the fleeing men and fired. The agents' stumbled and fell to the ground, wounded but spared for the moment by the shotgun's limited range.

A sudden burst of motion prompted her to pull back and seek cover behind the bookcases. Several bullets impacted against the wooden shelves, while a number of other projectiles tore through several rows of books before lodging in thicker volumes. Glancing around the corner, Asuka confirmed the location of a fourth adversary who had taken cover behind the receptionist's desk, bringing her mental head count to completion.

Without fear of being attacked from her flanks, Asuka charged into the open and dashed down the aisle as her nervous foe fumbled desperately to reload his handgun's exhausted magazine. Finally sliding the clip into place, he slammed the first round into the chamber and raised the weapon to fire.

The shot went wild as the butt of Asuka's shotgun lunged over the desk and slammed into the bridge of his nose. Stunned, he toppled over backward, dropping the pistol to the floor. Asuka leapt up atop the desk, pointed the weapon down at his fallen form, and splattered the contents of his skull throughout the small cubicle.

Retrieving the pistol from where it lay next to the headless corpse, she stalked over to the wounded agents still desperately trying to crawl through doorway and executed them one by one with a single shot to the head, ignoring their pleas for mercy.

* * *

For the second time in just as many hours, Asuka gazed intently upon the main double doors that lead into the school's auditorium. The barrel of her pilfered shotgun rested lightly against her left shoulder, and her right arm dangled loosely at her side within a moment's reach of the katana hilt as she strode purposefully down the hall. It took much of her willpower to keep from simply rushing forward through the doorway to her ultimate confrontation with Rei Ayanami. Still, her limbs trembled with excitement despite her best efforts to control them.

As she considered whether to remove the impromptu wrist blade, visions of Rei Ayanami flashed through her mind. Like a slide show they clicked by one by one, flowing in chronological order as if showing Asuka a montage of her relationship with the albino girl, from the day they first met on the supercarrier _Over the Rainbow_ to the final moment of treachery. The images turned dark, branching beyond her experience to events yet to pass, delving deep into the macabre as they explored the many possible ways the girl could die. Like an observer, Asuka hovered above herself as she slayed her mortal enemy in a variety of fashions, from mundane stabbings with a variety of sharp-edged instruments to more sadistic executions like rending her limb from limb.

_Rei Ayanami must die_, the voice in her mind hissed, interjecting its typically unsolicited counsel into her sinister musings. Asuka frowned, drawn from her dark fantasies by the sudden disruption.

_That damn voice again_, she fumed, irked as much by the disturbance as by the abrupt realization that she had stopped moving and had no idea how long she had actually been standing there.

Engrossed in her mental disharmony, Asuka almost didn't notice when the auditorium's heavy double doors burst open and a squad of eight fully-armed military personnel leveled their weapons directly at her. Almost.

Purging the useless thoughts, she considered her predicament in an instant: standing in the middle of a hallway without a convenient intersection or even a nearby water fountain to sprint to for cover, she was completely exposed to a well-trained enemy with superior firepower within just a few yards of her position. With no real feasible tactical options, she did the only thing she could do. She charged.

Planting her feet against the hard tile floor, Asuka sprang, quickly closing the distance between herself and her new adversaries, just as the first few bursts of fire began hurtling in her direction.

The suddenness of her assault and the shocking speed of her movements threw off the soldiers' accuracy, but still Asuka felt a bullet rip painfully across her thigh, while another drew a long, burning gash across her ribs. Whipping the shotgun out in front of her, Asuka returned fire, instantly killing her nearest opponent and wounding several others in the blast. With her other hand she struck out straight in front of her, driving the wrist blade deep into the ribs of the next man in line. The man groaned, coughing blood onto his murderer's cheek, then fell limp.

Asuka jerked her hand back to disengage the blade from her victim's chest and grimaced as her arm was nearly wrenched from its socket. Stifling a curse, she managed to keep herself from stumbling as the dead man slumped away from her, the blade stuck fast between his ribs. Hauling the corpse in close to herself, she used his body to shield herself from enemy fire. The carcass jerked awkwardly as bullets slammed into it from the rear, and a thick, wet splattering at her feet let her know that the abdomen had been severely breached and discharged its contents onto the floor. Asuka knew it would not protect her for long.

As if on cue, several high-caliber assault rifle rounds ripped through the upper torso, brushing past her cheek and tearing a bloody line across her earlobe.

Maneuvering the shotgun with her free hand, Asuka planted the butt of the weapon against her human shield's collar bone for leverage and pumped a fresh shell into the chamber, then pointed the barrel over his shoulder at the soldier furthest to the left of their formation. The shotgun roared, spewing its lethal contents in a fiery gout of shrapnel, rending his right arm from his body and gouging deep into his neck.

Asuka maneuvered her shield around to take advantage of the gap, planting the butt of her shotgun against the corpse's shoulder again to load the next shot and fired. Another enemy dropped to the ground, his chest shredded like raw hamburger.

With a full half of her foes now dead and two of the remaining four soldiers wounded, Asuka managed to shift herself into a position where she could use the dead man's superior girth to shield herself almost entirely from view, save for the few widening holes where bullets had chewed through his flesh and light combat armor. Designed to protect against small arms fire without hampering movement, it had not fared so well against the heavier weaponry the soldiers wielded, or the vicious strike from Asuka's wrist blade for that matter, though it was certainly helping to hold the knife in place once it was through.

Safe as she could hope to be, Asuka bit down on the tape securing the knife to the back of her hand, working to free herself even as the sturdy tape resisted and her teeth slid over the slick coating of blood. Abandoning that line of effort, she braced the shotgun against the dead man's spine to load another shell, then forced the body forward into the two uninjured soldiers, catching them off guard and knocking them back against the two wounded men who had taken up position behind them. Asuka spun out from behind her shield, pushing the corpse back away from her as she lunged forward toward the small mass of colliding soldiers, firing the shotgun into the thick of them. Even as the two men out front fell writhing to the ground, she pushed hard against the floor and lunged again, wielding the shotgun overhead like a club.

The momentum of her lunge finally tore the wrist blade free of the dead soldier's chest as she brought the shotgun down, striking with such ferocity that the barrel warped, curving around the head of her victim, one of the wounded men taking up position at the rear of the small formation. Even with his helmet on the sound of his skull collapsing was clearly audible, even over the screams and panicked gunfire of his few remaining companions. Asuka turned her attention to her last standing opponent, a wounded soldier who awkwardly wielded his assault rifle with a single hand, his other arm hanging limply at his side, blood streaming down from a nasty shoulder wound.

The hall suddenly fell rather silent as the final bullet from the injured man's assault rifle veered harmlessly off to Asuka's left, impacting against the wall in a spray of plaster. The petrified soldier continued squeezing the trigger, as if to will more bullets into the weapon's magazine, but his efforts were rewarded with naught but a series of soft clicks. Asuka regarded her enemy for a moment, then drew her sword.

Drawn from his stupor by the katana's sudden appearance, he dropped the empty rifle to the floor and fumbled for his sidearm as Asuka stalked toward him, sword held loosely in one hand. His trembling fingers brushed the pistol's grip, but in his panic the weapon slipped from his quivering hands and clattered to the floor beyond his reach. Terrified, he dropped to his knees, opening his mouth to plea for his life. He never got the chance.

With a single horizontal slash she lopped the man's head from his shoulders. It tumbled to the ground, rolling a few feet as the body collapsed alongside it.

The two surviving soldiers groaned and writhed on the floor, their chest and abdomen heavily laden with buckshot. Blood pooled around them on the floor, both their own and that of their slaughtered comrades. Asuka stared down at them for a moment, then steadied her grip on the sword.

Without a word, she fell upon the wounded men, hacking and slashing with wild abandon. The fine-edged blade made short work of them, but Asuka kept slicing away at the corpses, hacking them to pieces. Finally, she let the sword drop from her limp hands and slumped to the ground, panting heavily as she lay against one of the more structurally intact bodies. Though the fight had not lasted more than a few minutes, it seemed that the evening's exertions had finally caught up with her.

Her nimble fingers searched the men around her, snatching up a handgun to defend herself if necessary, though it was not likely she would need it. Her fatigue-addled mind did not even register that it was a Desert Eagle, her favorite.

She did not know how many minutes she lay there, gathering her strength, but it was not long before the voice returned, whispering in her thoughts of all the brutal, violent things she had yet to do. With a grimace she tried to banish it from her mind, but it was more persistent than ever, urging her forward, pushing her to take up the sword and strike down all who had forsaken her. Though the voice's increasing assertiveness was wearing rather thin, Asuka grudgingly had to admit it had a point. The longer she lay here, the greater the chances were that her enemies would tire of waiting and track her down. Besides, she was a mere six feet from the auditorium. If there were still a few left (and she was certain that there were), all they would have to do is peek through the small windows to spot her, and after all the noise she and the soldiers had made during their little scuffle, it would hardly require an intuitive intellect to determine where to look.

Gathering up her belongings, Asuka dismissed all thoughts of her exhaustion and moved on. She wasn't quite finished. Not yet.

* * *

Sayoko Kurosawa slumped against the auditorium seat, staring blankly at the floor in front of him as he wallowed in his misery. It had been more than fifteen minutes since he'd dispatched his military reinforcements to dispatch the Second Child. They had engaged the target almost immediately, and he had been certain they finally had her. But as the sounds of gunfire dragged on, slowly diminishing in volume amidst intermittent cries of agony, the feeling of unease returned. Soon, the gunshots fell silent entirely, making way for a host of noises Agent Kurosawa did not care to contemplate. Then it was silent.

The head of security shifted his pistol nervously in his hands, contemplating the situation. Fully a third of NERV Intelligence personnel had been called to the site on his order, along with the military detachment. It was an unprecedented number for a single assignment, especially for an agency whose normal activities went to great lengths to avoid being noticed. Had the mission been successful, he could have justified the deployment of manpower as part of an overall search effort rather than reinforcements for the men he had already sent to their deaths.

But now all those men were dead, slain by the very target they had been dispatched to hunt down. Commander Ikari would not be pleased, particularly at the loss of the military unit. They had been part of NERV's personal army, highly professional mercenaries loyal to Ikari himself, not some squabbling UN lapdogs. To make things worse, he'd been forced to mask his actions with falsified orders that supposedly came from Rei herself. If everything had worked out as it should have, there would be no reason for anyone to question the orders, but the extent of this debacle would certainly incite an investigation. It would not require more than a basic inquiry to reveal that he had overstepped his bounds, abusing his position of authority in an attempt to mask his failure. The only way he could cover his tracks would be if Rei were to be killed in her confrontation with the Second Child, but even then he would be held responsible as chief of security and summarily executed; he had seen it done for far lesser blunders than the death of one of Commander Ikari's most prized personnel.

He could flee, Kurosawa supposed, but it was only a matter of time before they found and eliminated him. Gendou Ikari did not like loose ends, particularly loose ends that had failed him in such a grave matter.

The only option left was to kill Asuka himself. Perhaps then he would at least have a chance of escaping with his life, no matter how much disgrace and demotion he might suffer. Kurosawa pushed this thought aside; it was so ridiculous, he didn't know whether he should laugh or weep in anguish. How could he possibly stop her, the she-demon who had ripped through so many of his men with ease? He could not. Combat was not his forte; besides, what could one man hope to do against such an opponent?

No matter how he looked at it, all paths lead only to his demise. It was inevitable. He would die. A sudden resolve came over his face, and he straightened in his seat, grasping his sidearm more steadily than he ever had before, as he pressed the barrel of his gun against his chin. If his death was inevitable, he supposed, then the least he could do was choose his own fate. He would take his own life; no one else would have the pleasure.

Squeezing his eyes shut tight, he slowly clenched his index finger around the trigger, gradually bringing him closer to the death he had chosen for himself. He paused, centimeters from discharging the final bullet deep within the recesses of his skull.

No, he decided. This was the coward's way out. He had been a coward all his life, scraping and groveling at the feet of others to advance his own cause. Even his chosen profession involved manipulating others and slinking in shadows, sending his men to their deaths while he himself sat back in relative safety for them to do his job for him. This was his last chance to prove himself. He would meet his enemy in battle, even if it cost him his life. He might go down, but he would die fighting with bravery in his heart, like the samurai warriors of old. He would-

"Let me help you with that."

The sinister, feminine voice broke through his inner machinations, and he suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of a Desert Eagle. Startled by the sudden disruption, the veteran agent realized with dismay that his own gun was still pressed firmly under his chin, hardly in any position to defend himself. He opened his mouth to protest; this was not how it was supposed to be. It just wasn't right. He had to fight, even if he could not win. He had to prove himself, to show everyone that he really could-

Asuka fired. The .50 caliber bullet shattered his thoughts as easily as it ripped through his forehead, splattering brains and gore across the back of the seat. Kurosawa's ruined skull caved in on itself like a shattered melon, leaking sticky red fluid down the front of his suit as his body slouched down in the seat.

Turning toward the stage, Asuka searched for her real target. Nothing moved, and Asuka could detect no sound beyond her own breathing and the slight patter of blood as it ran down Kurosawa's arm and dripped onto the floor. There was no indication that the First Child was still around, or anyone else for that matter.

Holding the Desert Eagle at her chest like a professional sweeper, Asuka moved cautiously toward the stage with slow, measured steps, scanning every inch of the room for any possible signs of ambush. She was certain that Rei was still here. She _had _to be.

Asuka stepped carefully around to the auditorium's front left corner, pushing through a side door to a small set of stairs leading up to the stage. After warily climbing halfway up the short staircase, a slight wrinkle in the curtains to the left caught her attention. Distracted by this sudden movement, she didn't notice that one of Rei's large, dark-suited bodyguards had stepped out from the shadows at the other side of the stage until he raised his pistol to fire.

Catching the movement at the barest edges of her peripheral vision, Asuka ducked down in the stairwell as several bullets raced past her scalp, slightly ruffling her hair in their hasty passage. Asuka shrank down in the cover of the stairwell as several more projectiles impacted nearby, then peeked out to respond with two quick shots of her own. The first round veered harmlessly off to the side, but the second shot went true, catching him in the mouth. The large man toppled over backward, gore streaming from his shattered jaw.

Asuka crouched low again, searching for other threats. The curtains quivered again to her left, but the movement had already ceased by the time she could turn to face it. She glanced around the stage again, making sure the area was clear around her before she started firing experimental shots into the area obscured by the heavy curtain, and was utterly caught by surprise for a second time as the wounded bodyguard sat back up, despite his ruined face, and raised his pistol up to fire.

Asuka flung herself back down into the cover of the stairwell. Most of the bullets danced harmlessly around her, but one shot managed to strike the Desert Eagle squarely on the barrel, knocking the powerful handgun from her grasp. The dying agent emptied the remainder of his clip at Asuka's position, then slumped back to the floor, motionless.

Anticipating the same use of diversionary tactics as before, Asuka twisted preemptively to her left, drawing her sword from its sheath and slashing hard at the first sign of movement. Her shrewd judgment was rewarded with the sensation of steel rending flesh and the bright red stain of blood spreading outward from the tear in the curtain where her sword had slit the fabric. The curtain bulged outward as Rei's other bodyguard stumbled through the obscuring material, clutching at his stomach with one arm in an effort to hold his organs inside.

Asuka raised her sword to land the killing blow, but was surprised yet again as the agent charged forward, roaring in pain and desperation as he grabbed the wrist of her sword arm with his free hand, pushing her off-balance. She replied in kind by latching her other hand onto his wrist, but even then she had to scramble backward just to keep him from overpowering her. The enraged bodyguard continued his berserker rush, forcing Asuka back with such ferocity she nearly stumbled; it took all her effort and willpower just to stay on her feet. Even with both arms against his one she could not overpower him, and in a few seconds she would tumble off the stage, slamming her spine into the front row of seats with him crashing down on top of her, a position she most definitely wanted to avoid at all costs.

Releasing her free hand from its futile battle with the agent's iron grip, she pulled her elbow back and thrust her arm straight into his gut wound, forcing his other hand aside as she grasped a quivering handful of his entrails. The big man started to lose his vigor almost instantly; he tried to keep up his momentum, but his legs just couldn't power him forward with the same intensity, and his grip on Asuka's wrist began to soften involuntarily. He groaned as Asuka's hand clenched even tighter inside his stomach, then howled in agony as she ripped the slippery mass from his body. His muscles failed, and he slumped to his knees, releasing his hold on the Second Child completely. She wasted no time cleaving through his collarbone, slashing deep into the center of his chest.

Asuka stumbled backward, panting from the exertion. Her sword hung limply at her side, as if it might slip from her aching fingers at any moment. Her knees buckled, and she nearly slumped to the ground in exhaustion.

Many moments had passed before her tired mind recognized another presence in the room. Lifting her head, Asuka's bleary eyes revealed a familiar shape. Blinking her vision clear, she identified the figure of Rei Ayanami standing impassively across the stage, arms folded almost casually across her chest. She might have seemed almost at ease, were it not for the strange intensity that swam across her eyes. Asuka could have sworn the other girl never even blinked.

After a moment (she could not even begin to say how long, as time always seemed to stop when she gazed on those cold, red eyes), Asuka straightened up completely, gesturing with her sword out toward the carnage strewn throughout the auditorium.

"Well that was quite the shindig," she declared, more than a slight hint of fatigue creeping into her voice. "I never would have believed it Wondergirl, but you really know how to throw a party."

Rei did not respond, but Asuka continued anyway without giving her the chance. Rei had never responded to taunts before, and it was hardly probable that habit had changed over the years.

"I just have one question," Asuka continued. "I remember you used to always say you were expendable, that if you died you could simply be replaced."

Rei nodded, a slight, almost imperceptible gesture. Asuka brightened at the response. At least it made her feel like she wasn't just talking to herself. She opened her mouth to continue, then clamped it shut in surprise as Rei beagn speaking.

"It is true. I am expendable, and if I die, I can be replaced."

She gestured out where Asuka had pointed just moments before, at the torn and bloodied corpses strewn about the room.

"But so can they."

Asuka smirked, an expression of genuine mirth spreading across her face.

"So that's how it is," Asuka chuckled.

Rei nodded, but her expression did not change, and she did not lower her gaze from the the red-haired Second Child.

Asuka raised her sword in front of her, shifting into a combat stance. The fatigue she had felt just moments before evaporated from her body, her blood boiling with fighting spirit. The irritating voice crept up again to whisper in her mind's ear, but she ignored it, refusing to let her newfound enthusiasm be diminished by something as trivial as her growing insanity.

"Excuse me if I bring this conversation to a close," Asuka said, steadying her grip on the blade. "Not that I haven't enjoyed our little chat, but to be honest it feels a bit one-sided. I had five whole years to converse with no one but myself, and I didn't wake up from a coma, come all the way over here, and kill God-knows-how-many people just to do it some more."

Rei nodded again, pushing up the hem of her NERV-issue blue jacket to reveal two ornate, silver and blue scabbards hooked at her waist. She grasped the twin wakizashi-style short swords and slid them expertly from their sheaths, crouching low into a combat stance. Asuka noted with interest that she held the swords opposite the traditional manner, with the blades pointing down and away from her body, a method used by experienced combatants ideal for quick slashes and stabs.

The redhead grinned. After all this time and effort, she'd been afraid that her final showdown with her nemesis would be disappointingly anticlimactic, but it appeared that Rei had underwent thorough combat training in the years since they had last seen each other. No doubt the instruction had been done at Gendou's orders as an extra security precaution, but it seemed the obedient little doll had truly taken the lessons to heart.

Asuka pushed all other thoughts from her mind, focusing solely on her blade and the opponent in front of her. This was the moment she'd been waiting for, the confrontation she had sought all evening long. With a sweep of her blade she would fell this red-eyed bitch who had taunted her for so long, putting an end to this mockery of a human being, this automaton… this _doll_.

Asuka roared, charging forward to cleave her opponent in two with a vicious horizontal slash. The voice in her mind roared its approval as well, and she felt a sudden increase in strength and vitality, as if the nameless entity was sharing its energy with her, giving new life to her tired muscles.

The sword swept across its deadly arc with blinding speed, a powerful swing that would certainly cut even the most heavily armored opponent in half. Even if she could block the deadly attack, Rei would certainly be knocked backward, rendering her vulnerable to one last fatal strike. But the blade met only the empty air, not the bite of cold-edged steel or the tender yield of flesh. Asuka stumbled, pulled off-balance by the ferocity of her own attack.

Crouched below the angle of the swing, Rei felt only the breezy passage of the blade above her head. Asuka quickly realized her error and followed through the spiral motion, spinning away as Rei struck out with the deadly alacrity of a coiled serpent. The twin short swords carved an X-shaped pattern across Asuka's left side as she spun away, but the wounds were not so deep as to thwart her movement.

Hissing at the burning sensation just above her hip, Asuka whipped around again and retaliated with another devastating slash, aiming lower than before to force the NERV officer into a low parry, where the downward angle of her weapons might leave her upper torso open to attack. But again Rei dodged instead of blocking, slipping aside as the larger katana rushed past her body. Asuka stumbled again, carried forward by the momentum of her own attack. Rei's short swords danced across her flesh a second time, scratching another painful X across her opponent's left forearm.

_She's so fast_, Asuka thought, twisting back to face her enemy. _She doesn't even bother to block, just flits aside like I'm moving in slow motion._

The redhead brought her sword across in a half-hearted slash meant to discourage her adversary from pressing the attack without throwing herself off-balance if it should fail to connect with a solid object. Blood trickled down her arm from the fresh wound, and Asuka raised her stance to prevent the sticky fluid from flowing into her palm. If she lost her grip in this battle, it would be over.

Having dodged back from Asuka's noncommittal stroke, Rei dropped into a half-crouch, hoping to take advantage of the taller woman's height and sudden change in position. With the sword held so high in the air, she would have difficulty bringing it down fast enough to block low attacks. This left Rei with an opening for a lethal gut shot, or even a chance to hamstring her opponent before ending the fight at her leisure.

Rei lashed out with two quick slashes aimed to shear through Asuka's chest. They were expertly deflected, but they forced Asuka to commit to a high defensive posture as Rei pummeled her guard with a flurry of high and medium slashes. Asuka managed to parry each blow, but she was slowly being forced back, and she was much more fatigued after the night's exertions than her opponent. She could not afford to let this fight drag on too long, or she would almost certainly slip up or simply collapse from exhaustion.

Studying Rei's movements, Asuka exploited the length advantage of her weapon and swept both short swords off to the side in a single parry, then arced her sword back across in a horizontal slash aimed to sever cleanly through Rei's neck. As usual, the blade met only empty air, but Asuka had anticipated the dodge and declined to put her full strength behind the attack. As a result, she was able to halt her momentum quickly and step back, putting enough distance between them that her larger sword would be an asset rather than a hindrance, though she took another hit on her shoulder in the process.

The wound was beginning to look decidedly like an asterisk, and blood ran down her arm in rivulets, but Asuka was confident she had turned the battle in her own favor, at least for the moment. Rei lunged forward, striving to close the distance again, but Asuka kept her at bay with wide sweeps of her sword, deadly enough not to be trifled with, but slow enough that they were no real threat. Still, Rei's quick attacks and endeavors to engage at close range forced Asuka back toward the edge of the stage, a dangerous location that would almost certainly cripple both her range and mobility.

When she was but a few feet from the edge, Asuka feigned a stumble. Rei seized the opportunity, driving a single blade in toward her enemy's heart while the other hovered defensively, ready to block any desperate parry. But Asuka righted herself easily, knocking the fatal blow aside without fear of interference by the guarding blade, then slid the tip of her katana in an assassin's stroke toward the pale, white neck of her foe.

Rei's expression revealed uncharacteristic surprise at the sneaky maneuver, and she barely managed to pull her throat back, suffering only a light scratch across the collarbone. But it was enough to put her on the defensive, and Asuka wasted no time pursuing the retreating NERV officer with a vicious overhead chop aimed to split her skull in two.

Lurching backwards, Rei could not regain her footing in time to evade the attack as she usually did. Instead, she brought her blades up in front of her face, crossing them in a V-shape to catch and hold her opponent's blade. From there she could push the offending weapon up and away with one arm, while sweeping in below Asuka's defenses with the other to finish her.

But even as she did so, a wicked grin spread across Asuka's face. Rei frowned in confusion, then grimaced in pain as Asuka's lashed out with her foot, driving her heel into the crook of Rei's right elbow with a crack and several loud, popping sounds. The albino girl staggered back, losing her grip on the wakizashi. Her injured arm hung loosely at her side, its damaged joint twisted at an odd angle.

Asuka smirked.

"Nothing but a doll," she sneered, breathing heavily from the effort. "You don't even feel pain, do you?"

"I am not a doll," Rei growled back. Her red eyes burned with a hatred Asuka never thought she would see in a thousand lifetimes.

"Oh my," Asuka replied, her voice thick with mockery. "Wondergirl is angry."

Rei snarled, leaping forward with renewed vigor, as if she had never been injured. Asuka sidestepped the initial strike, bringing their battle parallel to the stage, the perfect angle for the dead men in the audience to watch the finale of their duel.

Asuka was surprised to find herself on the defensive again, pushed back by the savage one-armed assault, but Rei was tiring quickly as the pain and fatigue took their toll. She was already trembling and gasping for breath, but she simply would not yield, slashing with seemingly reckless abandon, though Asuka soon learned that these were still precise, measured strikes as she suffered a stinging gash across her abdomen.

The searing wound seemed to trigger something inside of her as well, for she immediately struck back with equal ferocity. Soon Rei was being pushed back, her movements growing sluggish as exhaustion crept into her muscles. Her guard slipped, and Asuka's blade cut deep across her torso, staining her blue NERV jacket with blood. The blade continued its deadly arc, slicing cleanly through the bicep of her wounded arm. The severed limb flopped to the ground, twitching slightly.

Rei slumped to her knees, staring blankly at the severed limb as blood flowed from her torn chest and the stump of her arm, pooling on the floor. Asuka gazed down at her, pondering how best to finish her off.

She didn't get the chance; Rei leapt to her feet, slashing at Asuka's face with her remaining arm. The redhead jerked back in surprise as blood welled in a deep scratch along her cheek.

"You bitch!" Asuka shrieked, bringing her full wrath to bear on the First Child's remaining short sword. The wakizashi tumbled from her grasp, falling from the stage beneath the auditorium seats.

"Now die!"

Rei squealed in agony as Asuka ran her through, impaling the katana just below the girl's sternum, then kicked the handle, burying the blade in to the hilt and knocking the skewered girl from the stage. Rei crashed into the front row of seats and toppled to the floor. She did not move.

Asuka panted with exhaustion as she stared down at the body of her old nemesis. It had been an extremely close fight, Asuka had to admit as the ache from her wounds and tired muscles began to catch up with her. Blood virtually coated her left arm, and the shoulder was getting rather numb. No other opponent had pushed her so hard or made her shed so much of her blood since she had embarked on this bloody endeavor.

A sudden dizzy spell struck her, and she nearly swooned. Perhaps she had lost more blood than she thought. Asuka suddenly realized, perhaps for the first time, that this quest would likely claim her life. She dismissed the thought quickly. It was not worth her time to ponder such things. If such was the price of vengeance, she would pay it gladly.

A sudden noise in the otherwise silent auditorium caught her attention. She turned back to face the chairs, and realized with no small amount of shock that Rei was still alive. And on top of that, she was standing, clutching a sidearm she had scavenged from one of the many corpses scattered throughout the auditorium, with the barrel leveled at Asuka's chest.

"You cheater!" Asuka gasped, flinging herself aside as the first shot tore across her shoulder.

She slammed herself hard against the stage floor, pressing low as possible as she crawled over to the disemboweled bodyguard's corpse, cursing when his firearm was not immediately visible. She pushed the sticky, matted fabric aside and spotted the weapon's barrel protruding beneath his torso.

Several more bullets soared past her face as she tugged at the pinned firearm, and Asuka strained to pull the weapon free. Planting a foot against the body for leverage, she finally managed to liberate the handgun, rolling aside as Rei continued firing from her new perch atop an auditorium seat.

Allowing her momentum to carry her several feet to the side, Asuka halted her evasive movement, leaning up on her elbows and stomach to fire three shots at Rei's chest. The blue-haired girl twitched with each impact, then tumbled from her perch. She lay still.

Asuka eyed the body warily as she crept to the edge of the stage and lowered herself to the floor. Rei did not move, even as Asuka nudged her with a foot. Satisfied, Asuka let the borrowed pistol drop from her fingers, splashing in a pool of sticky blood as she turned and walked aside to observe the carnage.

Again, a sudden noise behind her seized her attention, and she pivoted around to find Rei rushing straight at her wielding a short sword she had salvaged from beneath the seats. Asuka pulled dodged back from the first two strikes as the blade passed inches from her nose, then sidestepped the third, grasping Rei's only remaining wrist as she kicked the girl in the shin.

Rei stumbled forward, and Asuka grasped the hilt of the katana, ripping it from her chest as she passed. Asuka spun 360 degress as her opponent lurched away, then slashed her sword horizontally across Rei's waist. The wakizashi tumbled from her limp grasp as she staggered awkwardly for several more steps, then toppled to the ground as the two halves of her body separated. She twitched for several moments, then fell motionless.

Asuka stared at her broken form, hands clenched tightly around the hilt of her sword. She had to be dead this time. She just _had_ to.

Asuka plunged her blade into Rei's side. No response.

Satisfied, Asuka turned to walk away, then stumbled as something wrapped tightly around her ankle. She whirled to find Rei clutching at her foot, using it as leverage to pull her severed, one-armed torso closer. Blood flowed from her mouth, running down the blade of the short sword she had gripped between her teeth.

Asuka trembled with rage. Veins strained against the flesh of her forehead, ready to burst at any second. She raised the katana overhead, ignoring the blood that had run down her arm, making her grip on the hilt slick.

"Now _DIE!_" she screamed, bringing the weapon down with all the strength she could muster.

The blade cleaved neatly through Rei's skull from scalp to chin, and the two halves fell apart like a split apple. Asuka continued to strike, hacking the girl apart like a pack of hyenas might set upon a carcass. A piece of Rei's skull was thrown several feet to the side, sticking against the side of the stage. A single red eye gazed out upon the butchery as the lump of flesh that contained it slid down the wooden surface of the stage.

The katana dropped from her hands, and Asuka felt her energy waning, as if the very essence of her being were being drawn from her body. Her legs faltered, and she collapsed in the pool of gore.

Asuka lay still, staring blankly at the ceiling. Her breathing slowed, and the trembling in her arms ceased. A low, almost guttural sound emanated from deep within her throat. An observer might have mistakenly assumed she was choking at first, but gradually the sound became more distinct. She was laughing.

It started out as a low chuckle, then gradually increased in pitch and volume to a full-blown cackle. She laughed maniacally, writhing in the sticky fluids as her right hand rubbed slowly down the side of her face, smearing her cheek with blood.

As abruptly as it had begun, the laughter died down, then faded into nothingness. Asuka lay still again, arms hanging limp at her sides as she stared at the ceiling. She frowned.

"What the fuck am I doing?"

* * *

Asuka did not know how long she had lain there, soaking in the blood of her enemies, before she had finally found the energy to get up. She staggered down the hall, pushed open the doors to the first restroom she came across and went inside, slapping the light switch as she entered. A row of urinals illuminated along the far wall told her she had found her way to the men's room, but she didn't care. The men were all dead.

Asuka lurched over to the sinks and placed her palms against the counter, holding her exhausted body upright as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Blood coated her body from head to toe, both her own and that of her enemies. Her clothes were stained so badly even her black jumpsuit was likely ruined, and her hair was thickly matted against her scalp and shoulders in deeper shades of red than usual.

A small white object caught in the hair above her left ear caught her attention. She picked it out, carefully, and brought it close to her face for more thorough scrutiny. It was a tooth. Asuka ran her tongue along the insides of her mouth; it wasn't hers.

Discarding the useless object, Asuka stripped down to her undergarments and washed the blood from her hair, face, and extremities as best she could. The gore was thick and viscous, and she had to change sinks several times as they became clogged with partly-coagulated blood and other various unmentionables.

After a long period of scrubbing, Asuka ventured back out into the hall, rummaging through the lockers for anything that might help make her appearance more presentable. A few minutes later, after discarding numerous gym uniforms, cheerleading outfits, and a rather revealing catgirl ensemble, Asuka managed to procure a spare traditional girl's uniform that seemed like it would fit her well enough, if a bit on the small side, and an instrument case to conceal her Hanzo sword.

Asuka tugged at the hem of her skirt, trying to stretch the material out farther so it didn't ride up so high, but it was to no avail. She peered into the mirror, taking one last look to ensure her appearance was acceptable enough not to attract too much unwanted attention. She decided it would likely hold up to a quick glance on the darkened streets, but she would probably get a few looks from anyone she happened to meet in the hotel lobby or stairwells. However, if she came in through the back entrance she was less likely to encounter anyone, and even if she did they would probably dismiss her as a callgirl dressed to meet some client's specific tastes.

Scraping a few stray flecks of blood from her forehead, Asuka hefted the instrument case, turned, and strode out into the hallway.

* * *

The small, seldom-used side exit to the Tokyo-3 Elementary and Secondary Education Complex swung open, but no light shone out into the darkened exterior, nor did any creaking noises escape its well-oiled hinges. A red-haired girl of medium height stepped across the threshold, closing the door softly behind her. She looked around cautiously, then turned and made her way cautiously toward the street, taking care not to stray too close to any of the streetlights. A small red dot followed her every move.

From this distance, she looked much like a normal high school senior, though her uniform was obvious a few sizes too small, accenting her shapely legs and rather well-developed chest in ways that would have been quite distracting for a typical male student. But the observer knew better. He knew who she was. He knew why she was there. The only thing he didn't know was where she was going.

Asuka rounded a corner, and Kensuke Aida clicked off the recording feature on his digital camcorder. The red light faded, then winked out of existence. He grinned, slipping out of his hiding place in the bushes to follow her.

"Gotcha."

* * *

Subcommander Kouzou Fuyutsuki skimmed through the NERV personnel and operations report in his hands, raising an eyebrow as he came across the casualty statistics. He glanced up at Commander Ikari, who sat quietly at his desk, fingers steepled at his chin.

"Rather impressive figures, wouldn't you say?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"Indeed," Gendou replied. "The Second Child has proved to be very capable and resourceful after all."

"Perhaps we were too hasty in discarding her."

"No." Gendou stretched his steepled fingers, allowing them to interlock as his goatee brushed against their knuckles. "It was the act of abandonment that has forged her into what she has become. I believe she is exactly what we have been searching for."

"'…through his death, the Messiah shall open the way to salvation, and the Serpent shall bring ruin to the Earth,'" Fuyutsuki murmured, shaking his head. "I still find it hard to believe. To think that the world's largest religions were created simply to preserve what is essentially humanity's Handbook for the Apocalypse. It almost seems like a joke."

The Subcommander sighed, as he usually did when he thought about how little time the human race had remaining.

"Sometimes I wonder," he continued, "if we are truly worthy of this path that we are taking."

"Humanity has reached the end of its evolutionary ladder," Gendou said, uncharacteristically loquacious. "Our ancestors foresaw this eventuality, and so they saw fit to conceal messages in plain sight, until the day when we had evolved enough that we might unlock the secrets for ourselves, ascending to a higher level of existence as they aspired to before us. Man is fated to bring about his own destruction, that he may rise from the ashes as a phoenix."

"'The fate of destruction is also the joy of rebirth,'" Fuyutsuki quoted. "Or so the old men of SEELE would like to believe."

"Indeed." The slightest hint of a smile, almost a smirk, tugged at the corners of Gendou's mouth. "But like our ancestors before us, the old men do not bother to look beyond what is right in front of them. They think they have all the answers simply because they found a few scraps of paper under some rocks in the desert. They take only what is spoon-fed to them, ignoring any other possibilities. Like our ancestors, and their ancestors before them, and their ancestors before them, back into countless millennia of lost civilizations, SEELE would destroy us all for nothing.

"In the Evangelion, mankind has harnessed the power of God, a power equally capable of both destruction and creation. To create a new world, two beings are needed: one to destroy the world, and another to rebuild it. But only one individual can wield the power of God, lest the very fabric of existence be annihilated by the conflicting desires of the two. This is the lesson that our forefathers failed to understand, and so their burden was passed on to a new generation, as it has been since the dawn of time."

"The Trinity," Fuyutsuki said. "The power of God, and the two conflicting natures of man: the Serpent, and the Messiah."

Gendou nodded. "The Messiah must be sacrificed in advance, to ascend and make ready for the rebirth of humanity once the Serpent is unleashed."

Fuyutsuki grinned, a wistful smile warming his features. "Well you seem to be unusually talkative today."

Gendou shrugged. "It occurred to me that we have not had a discussion such as this in a very long time, and it is not likely we will have another chance… Sempai."

"'Sempai,'" Fuyutsuki repeated, raising his eyebrow again. "It's been a while since I've heard you call me that."

Gendou did not reply.

Fuyutsuki sighed, turning to gaze out at the Tokyo-3 cityscape.

"I suppose you're right. Still, do you really think she could be the one?"

Gendou turned to follow his gaze, taking in the mechanized metropolis that housed the key to humanity's salvation.

"There is only one way to be sure," he replied.

Fuyutsuki turned back to face him.

"She will not be captured easily."

"Indeed," Gendou conceded. "But we know why she is here. In time, she will come to us."

Fuyutsuki nodded. "What about Rei?"

Gendou was silent for a moment, pondering.

"Have a replacement prepared immediately," he said. "The Seed of Lillith may yet be of some use to us."

**xxEND OF CHAPTERxx**

* * *

Awww… I had to kill off Rei. That makes me sad… VV

And as for the fanservice… mwahahahaha! Yes, I know, it was crude, pointless, and unnecessary. But then, isn't it always?

Okay, someone in the reviews asked why Asuka wanted to kill Rei. While I'm sure there are a number of reasons you could point out, consider the following:

1. Rei was present during her betrayal.

2. Asuka never liked Rei.

3. Asuka always considered Rei to be Gendou's personal pet.

4. Rei is a high-ranking member of NERV now, the organization Gendou is in charge of.

5. It's my goddamn story, and that's how I'm gonna do it.

Next time, Shinji makes an appearance. So does Asuka.- big surprise, right? See all you A/S fans, I can be a nice guy. Now be a good little boy/girl/assorted mammal and leave me a review, pronto, or else my self-esteem may be shattered forever. You wouldn't do that to me, would you?


	5. Vol 5: Reunion

Woo-hoo. Update! And I'd call it a reasonably fast update (for me, anyway), considering that it was also delayed by the start of college and my hard drive crashing. Decent length, too.

Any interaction between Shinji and Kaoru is intended to be completely heterosexual, just as I believe it was intended in the anime. Not that it's really relevant either way.

Also, while I've seen Kaoru's name spelled in various ways, and while I believe my DVD characters profiles spell it Kaworu as most people seem to, I am accustomed to using "Kaoru," so that's how I'm gonna do it. Trying to switch between to Kaworu after writing "Kaoru" for so long is like remembering how to spell Fuyutsuki for the first time (i.e. annoying as fuck). So I don't need a million people (not that anywhere near that many people actually read this thing) emailing me/ leaving reviews saying stuff like "OMG, durrr, itZ spelzored Kerreewoo, n00b!11!1! LOL kthnx." That, and I don't feel like using find/replace, because I like "Kaoru" better anyway, correct or not.

Please also note that once again, in favor of efficiency, I have omitted my usual thorough proofread/rewrite stage, because it takes too damn long. Now enjoy the fic. The Sun God commands it.

Kill Gendou

Volume Five

Tokyo-2 Community Hospital

5 Years Earlier

"I mustn't run away."

Possessed by some primal urge, unleashed from its long imprisonment in the depths of his psyche, Shinji Ikari strode purposefully toward the comatose young woman lying helpless in the small, white hospital bed. He gazed hungrily at her. Even unconscious and barely clinging to life, she was still amazingly beautiful to him. He saw the same peaceful expression he had grown accustomed to while he lived with her in Misato's apartment, the tranquil countenance of a child that yet warned of a hidden vigor, as if even in the depths of slumber she might still spark to life at any moment.

But she would not. She could not. She was still. She was helpless. He could take her, possess her completely, make her his own. After all the time spent in her presence, living right next to her but yet still separated by an immeasurable gulf, he could finally have what he had secretly coveted for so long. His trembling hands hovered inches from her body, exposed and accessible to his touch. There was no one to get in his way, nothing to stop him from claiming his prize.

Shinji froze. His hands twitched indecisively, as if some invisible barrier had arisen to thwart their advance.

No, his mind decided. It's not right. I… I can't.

He shrank back from Asuka's bed, ashamed.

You mustn't run away! his bestial instincts insisted.

The trembling in Shinji's hands stopped. Grim resolve spread across his features, and he moved back to Asuka's side. He took her hand, clasping it firmly between his own. He had already abandoned her once; he would not do it again.

I will not run away.

* * *

"So? Was I right?"

Shinji turned from gazing out the window to find Kensuke Aida hovering by his desk, an expectant grin spread across his face.

"Well?"

"Well, what?" Shinji replied.

"Come on Shinji, you know what I'm talking about."

"Yeah, come on, man," Touji Suzuhara urged, approaching Shinji's other shoulder. "Don't keep us in suspense."

Shinji stared sullenly at his desk.

"Yeah, she was there," he murmured.

"I knew it!" Kensuke said, exchanging a high-five with Touji. "I told you! I can find anything on the net."

Touji leaned in closer to Shinji and nudged him with his elbow. "So? How'd it go?"

Shinji shrugged listlessly. "Nothing happened."

"Right," Touji smirked. "You're telling me that you were alone in a hospital room with one of the hottest girls in our class lying helpless in front of you, and nothing happened?"

Shinji didn't respond, not even with his token blush or embarrassed sputtering. Kensuke leaned in close, peering at an angle through his eyeglasses.

"Are you feeling all right, Shinji? You've been acting even more spacey than usual today."

"Yeah, you're right," Touji agreed. "I bet he's just feeling the aftereffects of his night of debauchery with the she-demon."

Shinji pushed himself up from his desk, slinging his school bag over his shoulder. He did his best to put on an embarrassed smile.

"I told you guys, nothing happened."

"Typical Shinji," Touji said. "Fine, next time we'll all go together. Then we'll teach you what it really means to be man."

"Hey don't you have a synch test pretty soon?" Kensuke inquired, changing the subject to Shinji's great relief.

The young Ikari nodded. "Yeah, in about an hour. I need to get going, so I'll see you guys tomorrow."

The two boys bade him farewell, and Shinji began to make his way toward NERV Headquarters, a single topic dominating his thoughts: the Second Child, Asuka Langley Sohryu.

* * *

Two Years Later

"You're sure you don't want a turn?" Touji asked, lounging on one of the visitors chairs in Asuka's hospital room.

Shinji shook his head, as he always did. Touji shrugged, slouching further into the chair. He had given up on the subject long ago; the only reason he even bothered asking any more was out of habit. It was kind of weird how Shinji just wanted to hold her hand the whole time, but Touji dismissed it as some sort of a personal thing. Shinji was a shy, private kind of guy, not really the kind to get his jollies in front of other people. Suzuhara supposed Shinji probably took his time enjoying the young woman on those solo expeditions he often made to the hospital; although Shinji would not admit it, Touji was certain the young pilot made the commute to Tokyo-2 by himself at least once a week, if not more, in addition to their occasional group visits.

Touji stood, stretched his limbs, then straightened his clothes and turned to regard his companions.

"Well, I'd say that's enough depravity for one day."

Opening the door, he strolled casually out into the hallway, followed shortly by Kensuke. Shinji remained in the room momentarily, squeezing Asuka's hand.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

He knew she'd always hated his apologies, but for once, he really meant it rather than just blurting it out as a conditioned response. He knew in his heart that what his friends were doing was wrong, but he felt powerless. They were his friends, after all. He was afraid to speak out, paralyzed by fear and doubt.

Instead, he just sat by, holding her hand through each ordeal, as if that really meant anything. He was just as bad as they were, if not worse. Not to mention he felt responsible for putting her in this predicament in the first place, again through his own fear and inaction. The only thing that kept him going was these frequent visits when, alone or with his friends, he could at least spend time with her.

"Hey, Shinji, you coming?" Touji called from the hallway.

Feeling absolutely worthless, Shinji placed Asuka's arms gently at her sides, straightened her hospital gown, gave her hand one last reassuring squeeze, and walked out of the room to join his friends.

* * *

Two and a Half Years Later

Shinji Ikari sighed, relishing the last few sensations of touch as he relinquished his grip, his fingers sliding across the smooth skin of Asuka's hand. He let his fingertips linger on her soft flesh for a few tantalizing instants before breaking off contact completely. He longed to stay with her, but he knew he needed to get back before Misato started probing too deeply into his whereabouts. Besides, it was getting harder to throw off the NERV Intelligence agents every day, even with the techniques Kaji had shown him once.

Rising to his feet, he gazed sadly once more at the sleeping redhead and strode from the room.

Shinji pushed through the hospital's main exit, blinking as his sensitive eyes, having adjusted themselves to the gloomy internal lighting of the hospital, suddenly encountered the glare of sunset. He squinted, taking a moment to appreciate the daily spectacle, as was his usual routine. He marveled at the beauty of it, lamenting how pure and untainted it looked in comparison to the murky blackness of his own soul.

"You're a hard man to follow, Shinji Ikari."

The unexpected declaration startled Shinji from his dismal thoughts, and he looked up to find a familiar-looking figure standing off to the side, seemingly admiring the sunset as well, silhouetted by the same brilliant luminosity that so assaulted his senses as his vision struggled to compensate. Shinji peered against the glare to identify the speaker, whose voice had stirred a whisper of recognition in the back of Shinji's mind.

"Kaoru?"

Shading his eyes, Shinji moved closer to his mysterious companion, making out the familiar red eyes, gray hair, and pale skin that identified him as Kaoru Nagisa, Shinji's comrade-in-arms and the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit 02.

"You come here often, don't you, Shinji?"

Shinji lowered his gaze to the ground, unsure of how to respond. He had done his best to keep it a secret, to keep NERV from finding her and taking her away from him again. Perhaps he should have just stayed away altogether. Then there would have been no way for them to follow him to her. Then Touji and Kensuke might never have confirmed that she was here, either.

No, he told himself. He did not want her to be alone. He did not want to leave her all by herself in this awful place, surrounded by strangers who couldn't care less if one day she simply stopped breathing, beyond the grumbling they might make about having to haul her lifeless body to the morgue.

Liar, his mind retorted. You only came here for yourself. You were the one who didn't want to be alone. It's your fault that they found her, just like it's your fault she ended up here in the first place, coward.

"Don't worry," Kaoru said, seeming to sense what Shinji was thinking, just as he always did. "Your secret is safe with me."

The gray-haired boy sat down on a nearby bench and motioned for Shinji to join him. He accepted the invitation, and the two pilots gazed wordlessly out at the deep orange sun as it sank slowly beneath the horizon.

Kaoru was the first to break the silence. "There is something very important to you here, isn't there, Shinji?"

Shinji hesitated for a moment, debating whether he should be candid with his pale companion or fabricate some other explanation for his presence here. He decided that honesty was the best course, and nodded. Even though he had only known the other boy for a few months now, Shinji realized for the first time that they had become good friends. Kaoru was like a kindred spirit, and Shinji felt deep down in his heart that he could trust him, even with something as important as protecting Asuka.

Kaoru smiled. "It is plainly written on your face. You must truly love her, to go to such great lengths to protect and be with her."

Shinji faltered at that. Love her? Did he really?

Of course you don't, fool, the voice inside him scolded. You don't love anyone. All you care about is yourself. You simply cling to others, desperately trying to make yourself feel less pathetic, to give yourself the illusion that you aren't so absolutely worthless.

Could that be true? he wondered. Was he simply using her for his own purposes? Did he just cling to her for comfort, as a frightened child clings to a favorite doll, only to discard it when the fear has passed?

Did it even matter now? How could he, such a sad, wretched creature, even dare to consider being worthy of her love?

It was all so horribly depressing, and, not for the first time, Shinji longed for his existence to end. He pined for the ultimate release of death, to fade into nothingness and leave all this pain behind. But he knew he could not leave her behind. As long as she lived, he would linger in this world of infinite sadness. Even if she cast him aside, exiling him to the furthest reaches of hell this sorry existence could provide, he would survive, unless she herself decided to take his life. He would gladly surrender his life to her. Dying by her hands was the most glorious end he could imagine.

No… he truly did love her, and, worthy or not, he would not abandon her.

"I… I want to be with her," Shinji finally admitted. "Even if she hates me, even if she wants to kill me, I will stay by her side and protect her as best I can, until I die or she sends me away of her own free will."

Kaoru smiled, then reached over and clasped Shinji's hand in his own.

"It's all right. I understand exactly what you mean, for I too care deeply for another. It is a blessing, though sometimes it may feel like a curse when you see them in peril or shouldering a heavy burden all alone, and there is so very little you can do to help them."

Shinji's mind wandered back to one of the first conversations he'd had with Kaoru in the showers at NERV HQ.

"You are delicate, like glass," Kaoru had said. "That is, your heart is."

"It is?" Shinji had replied uneasily, his face flush with embarrassment and discomfort.

"Yes. This is worth earning my empathy."

"Empathy?"

"I'm saying I love you."

Though at first the idea had made Shinji feel awkward and uncomfortable, his continued conversations and interactions with the unusual Kaoru Nagisa had lead him to a new understanding of the concept of love, and how it could be applied to relationships between all people, not just the usual idea of men and women or parents and children. In Kaoru he had found a kindred spirit, a brother by mind and heart if not by blood.

Shinji looked to their clasped hands, feeling none of his former discomfort or embarrassment. It was a symbol of their friendship, a gesture of kindness and familiarity the likes of which Shinji had seldom experienced before.

Kaoru gazed at his thoughtful companion, deciphering much of the boy's thoughts just by looking at him, as if Shinji had been mumbling aloud to himself. Kaoru decided it had been a good idea not to mention that NERV was almost certainly aware of the Second Child's location and condition. It simply would not do to trouble this gentle young man further, especially considering the role Kaoru knew he would have to play in the near future.

The last vestiges of the setting sun slipped below the horizon, giving way to the shadows of evening. Shinji and Kaoru rose silently from their seats and strolled off toward the train station. Though they did not speak, a palpable air of camaraderie surrounded them as they walked, as sure as if they were laughing and joking aloud like any other pair of high school pals. Shinji felt a warmth spreading through his chest, similar to what he felt when he was around Asuka, but somehow different. A faint smile spread across his features as he walked, and he knew that he had found a friend who understood him completely, and who, knowing all that, was still willing to stay by his side.

* * *

NERV Headquarters

The Present

Gendou Ikari stared impassively across his desk at the newly-arrived visitor, hands folded in front of his jaw. He seemed unperturbed by the fact that the boy had just emerged through the office floor, gliding through the solid matter as if it wasn't even there.

"Must you always conduct yourself with such a grandiose demeanor?" the Commander inquired, a hint of annoyance pervading his voice. "It hardly seems befitting of an entity such as yourself."

"Forgive me," Kaoru replied with just a hint of what might have been sarcasm. "I was merely experimenting with what I believe you Lillum would call 'self indulgence.' It is a surprisingly agreeable concept."

"Let us dispense with these pleasantries," Gendou said, steering the conversation in a more practical direction. "We digress from the matter at hand."

He straightened slightly in his seat, letting his folded hands slip down to rest beneath his chin.

"The time draws near," he continued. "I am sure that you can feel this as well. It is the reason you were brought here, Tabris."

"Please," Kaoru said with a conspiratory grin. "You of all the Lillum should know that is not my true name."

"Very well… Judas," Gendou conceded, narrowing his eyes.

Kaoru smiled. "It has been quite a long time since anyone has called me by that name."

"Let it serve as a reminder of your true purpose, then. Regardless of any nonsense the old men might have imparted to you, we are outside their sphere of influence now. NERV shall function as the guiding hand of humanity's final days, not SEELE."

"Yes, I understand," Kaoru affirmed. "It is the reason I exist. I am pleased to finally realize my true purpose, to be a beacon on the path to redemption after untold millennia of senseless destruction."

"Very well. I will leave the task to you. Go forth, and fulfill your true destiny."

Kaoru bowed, almost mockingly, and sank back into the floor from whence he had come. Gendou stared at the spot where he had disappeared, rubbing his goatee thoughtfully.

"Yui…"

* * *

Wrapping the soft, white towel around her torso, Asuka stepped out of the tub, subtly twisting to stretch the muscles that were still sore, the number of which, she noted, was surprisingly small, despite the previous night's exertions. Likewise, her wounds that had seemed so severe and painful the night before now seemed almost inconsequential. Aside from a bit of stiffness in her limbs and a dull, throbbing ache in some of her deeper cuts, she felt surprisingly good.

Shivering slightly, she strode past the sink and lifted the light pink robe she had hung on the doorknob and wrapped it around herself, relishing the sudden comfort and warmth.

A smile crept across Asuka's features, and she realized that she was actually in a rather good mood. The thought both surprised and delighted her, and she made a mental note to take the day off. Some rest and relaxation would do well to prepare her for finishing her task; no doubt security at NERV Headquarters would be heightened once they realized just how many of their employees she had slaughtered.

Including the First Child, she thought with a grin.

Grasping the door handle, Asuka sighed contentedly and pushed it open. Today was going to be a good day.

* * *

"Hello, Asuka."

Asuka froze as vaguely familiar voice intruded into her pleasant reflections, her hands groping instinctively at her waist. However, rather than encountering the familiar texture of her sword hilt, they met only the lonely void of empty air. Asuka silently cursed her own carelessness; how could she have left herself unarmed in such a vulnerable position?

As she turned to face the voice's owner, she nearly gasped in surprise. Standing across the room adjacent to the television stand was Kensuke Aida. He had not grown much taller since she'd last seen him, but his frame had broadened more significantly, contrasting almost comically with his otherwise nerdy appearance. He grinned at her, raising the Hanzo sword out in front of his body to admire it. His stance and the way he handled the blade suggested a surprising level of competence, no doubt a result of his obsession with military weapons and equipment.

"This is a beautiful sword you've got here," he continued, his voice only marginally deeper than Asuka remembered. "I'm really impressed."

A chuckle from the other side of the room drew Asuka's gaze over to the side of the room. Touji Suzuhara stood by the bed, arms folded across his chest, smirking. Asuka did not fail to notice the revolver hanging at his waist.

"You'll have plenty of time to nerdgasm over it later, Kensuke," Suzuhara chided, grinning hungrily at Asuka. "We have more pressing business to attend to, now that she's much more… responsive."

Asuka felt rage building inside of her. She may have been comatose and unresponsive at the time, but she had been aware of much that had transpired in her hospital room. Even if it killed her, she would rip these bastards apart with her bare hands. She would-

Asuka froze, the anger draining as she noticed the young man standing sullenly behind Touji with his back to her, staring blankly out a large window with his head bowed. Asuka felt a confusing mix of emotions welling up in side her, none of which seemed to involve inflicting bodily harm upon him. She felt her fighting spirit fading, and she suddenly had no energy left with which to retrieve it. Her inner voice screamed at her to take action, to spring forward and tear her enemies limb from limb. But the voice seemed distant, as though it were screaming at her from across the street in the midst of a severe thunderstorm.

The young man slowly turned around, revealing those same calm, innocent eyes that she remembered, though now they seemed deeper-set and hollow, clouded with anguish and inner turmoil. It clearly pained him to be here, and he could only hold her gaze for a brief instant before turning away in shame.

Asuka simply stared at his back, motionless. She felt nothing. A vague tinge of sadness smoldered in the back of her mind, manifesting itself only in a single tear running slowly down her cheek. Touji merely continued to smirk at her, admiring the places where her robe revealed soft pink skin, plastered in some places by her damp red hair, and she could vaguely sense Kensuke's attention wavering between her body and the katana in his hands.

Suddenly Asuka's body sprang into motion against her will, and she felt an eerie sensation, as if time had slowed to a crawl. She could feel her body twisting to the side, dashing toward Kensuke. Her mind seemed to pull taut, then snap forward, as if her consciousness was merely being dragged along for the ride.

Kensuke's eyes widened and he lashed out with a well-aimed diagonal slash, confirming Asuka's previous estimate of his competence. But in her heightened state of awareness, his movements seemed sluggish and ridiculously exaggerated. Her body dropped into a crouch, and the blade continued its ponderous descent, passing harmlessly over her head. Asuka felt her right arm swing up in a stiff uppercut, pounding into Kensuke's gut just below his sternum. He groaned, a sound which seemed drawn out and comical, and Asuka's eyes absently tracked several small globules of saliva as they soared past her cheek.

Her body leapt to its feet and whipped her right leg across, striking Kensuke soundly in the face. His head snapped around under the force of the kick, and crashed forcefully into the television screen. The glass shattered upon impact, cracking several of his bones and severely lacerating his face. He twitched as a strong electrical current jolted through his body, then fell still as the appliance overloaded in a small shower of sparks.

But Asuka saw none of this, as her body had already wrenched the katana from Kensuke's limp grasp and twisted itself around to face her remaining threats. Touji had already reached for his revolver, and was in the process of raising it into firing position when she felt herself lunge forward, repeating the awkward feeling of her brain being dragged behind the rest of her physical body.. A single bullet whizzed past her head, and though it moved significantly faster than the spittle she had observed previously, she found she could still mark its passage for an instant before it moved out of her line of sight to impact against the dresser.

Touji shifted his aim, but he simply moved too slowly. Even if her body had not been acting on its own, Asuka could have easily anticipated his movements and slowly shifted herself out of his line of sight. As it was, he didn't stand a chance, and the katana sheared cleanly through the wrist of his weapon arm. The severed limb and the revolver still clutched in its grasp soared gracefully through the air, trailing an almost beautiful stream of blood, tumbling to a rest at Shinji's feet. Asuka felt her arms raise the sword back into the air, turn it over, and thrust the blade deep into Touji's eye. The tip punched out through the back of his skull, and and he fell limp, sliding off the blade and collapsing to the floor in a heap.

Asuka whirled to face Shinji, who had been standing still the entire time. He had not grabbed for Touji's fallen revolver or moved toward the doorway to escape. He had not even turned around, staring gloomily out the window. Slowly, he turned to face her, arms outstretched to either side. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, exposing his throat.

Asuka felt her body reacting, raising the sword again, eager to take advantage of the offering. She lingered in the strange observational realm, idly watching as her body poised to finish its deadly work. She felt detached and cold, but somehow the chill was comforting. Though she could not seem to control her real limbs, she managed to wrap the cold around her like a comforting blanket. She pulled it in close, smothering herself in the frigid void of her senses. She felt like she could stay like this forever, secure in this tiny corner of her mind. Her consciousness began to fade.

"Thank you, Asuka."

It was the first time Shinji had spoken since his arrival, and it jolted Asuka from her chilled mental prison like an abrupt burst of flame. She felt her mind merging back into her body, and the lethargic passage of time reverted to its normal state. Asuka reeled from the disorientation and stumbled, suddenly back in control of her own limbs. The sword slipped from her grasp, and she dropped to one knee in an effort to regain her sense of balance.

Shinji lowered his chin, staring at her with concern. He opened his mouth to speak and took a step forward- and stepped on Touji's revolver. The metal skidded beneath his feet, and he slipped, his efforts to right himself thwarted by the slick pool of blood trickling from the severed hand. He stumbled backward into the large window, smashing through the glass and tumbling out into open air. He reached out, as if stroking Asuka's face one last time, and their eyes met for an instant before he disappeared from view.

Asuka stared sadly at the shattered window; she had never really planned to kill Shinji. Sure, she might have vaguely grouped him in with her collective enemy to satisfy her vengeful subconscious, but she had never made any specific attempts to locate or learn anything more about him. She could remember many details of his visits to her hospital room, the way he had held her hand and tried to comfort her as best he could, while fully admitting that he was too weak to truly help her. He had blamed himself for her condition, and for the behavior of his friends, and while the old Asuka would have hated and condemned him for his cowardice and indecision, she now found that she only felt pity and remorse. He had always been a gentle boy- too gentle, she had thought- and that was what she had always found so endearing- and infuriating. But now, even with her own limited grasp of empathy, one brief glance at his eyes had told her that his own self-loathing had been tearing him apart worse than her own blade ever could.

Tears welled in Asuka's eyes, and she felt hollow. She eyed the two corpses in the room; Touji lay limp near her feet, and Kensuke's body still dangled from the television stand where it was firmly embedded, smoke drifting away in lazy whisps. Normally she would have rejoiced in triumph, but now she could barely even feel the grim satisfaction in killing her former rapists. A small part of her mind warned that people would be coming soon, attracted by the noise. She quickly threw on some clothing, gathered up her sword and several of the hidden pistols she had stashed around the room, and fled into the hallway. She passed a number of concerned tenants and employees, but they did not pay her much attention. Making her way down to the parking garage, she exited through the rear entrance and into the streets.

* * *

Shinji Ikari plummeted toward the concrete, the last glimpse he had of the Second Child burned into his memory. He held it close to his heart, treasuring it as he built up speed. The rapidity of his descent disrupted his normal circulation, and he began to feel light-headed. As he lost consciousness, he relaxed contentedly. Though it had cost him his life, he had seen her one last time, and for him, that was enough.

* * *

The brown-haired young man tumbled through the open air, his limbs flopping awkwardly as the wind buffeted him along. He was fortunate to have passed out; this way, he would not feel the pain of impact. He carried with him no regrets over his impending death; all was as he willed it to be.

But another will disagreed. It would not allow his death, not now. Small yet powerful arms swooped up beneath his shoulders, slowing his descent, preventing the collision with solid ground that would have shattered his body and ended his life.

Kaoru Nagisa levitated slowly to the ground, supporting the young Ikari in his arms. No one in the streets paid them any attention, as though they had been wrapped in a cloak of invisibility. For, in fact, they were, as Kaoru desired them to be.

"It is not your time to die, Shinji Ikari," Kaoru said, cradling the unconscious teenager in his arms. "Not yet."

Kissing him softly on the cheek, Kaoru gently brushed his hand across the Third Child's brow, then brought his fingers to rest against the flesh of his forehead.

"Forgive me, Shinji," he whispered then forced the fingers in against the other boy's skull. They pierced easily through flesh and bone, as if simply melting through the normally-resistant tissue. Shinji jerked spasmodically, his eyelids fluttering open to regard his tormentor with a look of shock. His mouth opened and closed forming a silent question.

Why?

Kaoru only smiled sadly as he continued his intrusion, locking his gaze with Shinji's until the boy stopped thrashing and sank back into unconsciousness.

Kaoru withdrew is probing fingers, leaving no visible sign of their presence. He carefully lowered Shinji's unconscious body to the ground, then turned and walked away.

* * *

Shinji groaned as yet another staggering pain jolted through his forehead, forcing him to lean heavily against a nearby wall. He waited for the pain and dizziness to subside enough for him to take in his surroundings. He seemed to be in a parking garage of some sort, but he wasn't sure where. He could vaguely remember walking there, but every time he tried to think about it or what he had been doing before he came to this place the pain would start rising up again.

Shinji abandoned his efforts to figure out where he was and where he had been, focusing on more abstract questions like where this place might be and what in general might possibly have brought him here to begin with. A vague recollection tickled the back of his mind, and he focused on it. The pain flared up again, but he ignored it and continued focusing on that single memory fragment. It became clearer and clearer as he converged his thoughts on that single point, and though the pain increased in equal measure he forced himself to concentrate.

Just as he thought he might pass out from the agony, something snapped in his mind. It was as if he had been tugging on something with all his might and it had finally come free, releasing a smattering of memories. He seized the first one he came across, delving deep into the memory. Though it was just a flicker of recognition, a brief glimpse of smooth, pink flesh and soft, red hair, he knew immediately that it was important. A word came to him unexpectedly; it was a name: Asuka.

"Asuka…" he whispered, the word seemingly unlocking further pathways in his mind. "Asuka Langley Sohryu. The Second Child."

Asuka. Pilot of Evangelion Unit 02. His comrade. His roommate. His… love?

A new wave of memories assaulted him, blurring past his vision like a horde of slide shows being played at high speeds. Ideas jumbled on top of each other, colliding and causing blockages and congestion in his skull. The pain began to return, and he tried desperately to find the single point of memory that had triggered it all, but it was lost in the chaos, swept away in the roiling sea of memories. Shinji fell to his knees, hands clamped firmly over his ears in a futile attempt to stop the pandemonium in his psyche.

Shinji Ikari, a voice echoed in his mind, soft-spoken yet clearly audible over the storm. Do you want to make the memories go away?

I do, Shinji replied silently, before crying out with his real voice. "I do!"

You must surrender yourself entirely to me, the voice continued.

It sounded familiar. Shinji felt a twinge of recollection, a small bit of knowledge fished out from the maelstrom.

Kaoru?

I am not Kaoru, the voice replied, shifting slightly in pitch and tone. I am merely using a familiar voice from your memories. Are you ready, Shinji Ikari? Are you ready for the Silence?

I… I'm ready, Shinji answered. I am ready. Just… please. Make it stop.

The voice chuckled, and Shinji could almost see it leering at him, though it had no physical appearance, even in his mind. Good. You must clear your mind. Remove all conscious thoughts, and ignore the swirling chaos of your memories.

Shinji tried desperately to comply, to stop thinking and ignore the madness and disorder that flourished within, threatening to swallow him whole. It took a few minutes, but he finally managed to seize some measure of empty solitude, emptying his mind of everything he could.

It was enough. As quickly as it began, the seething mass of chaotic memories dwindled into nothingness. Shinji felt the plug returning in his mind, and for a moment he almost forgot what had happened just moments before.

Shinji's peaceful mental silence was short-lived, as the pain soon came rushing back to him. It felt as though someone were shoving his face into the ground, smothering him, though he could feel that he was still on his feet. He tried to gasp for air, but his lungs would not obey. Darkness overcame him, and he fell to the cold, hard ground.

Minutes later, he stirred again and rose unsteadily to his feet. He could not remember who or where he was, but it truly did not matter. He had only one desire, one quest, one goal. He would find the one, the one most precious to him. He would find her… and destroy her. And now, though he could not explain how, he had a pretty good idea where to find her. She was close… he could feel her.

* * *

Asuka paced back and forth through the empty hall, struggling to push thoughts of Shinji's death from her mind and decide her next move. It had shaken her more than she would ever care to admit; up until that point, she had actually been enjoying herself to an extent, reveling in the slaughter of her enemies.

But now it was different. Something was wrong, and the tattered remnants of the young girl Asuka had once been, locked deep within her psyche, wept in shame and sorrow at her wicked deeds. She pressed her back against the wall and slid down to the floor, staring vacantly at her palms. She imagined them covered in blood, as they had been so many times of late, and it made her feel sick.

She tilted slightly and let her weight drag her over onto the ground. She lay there, oblivious to the dirt and grime pressing against her cheek, or the rat scampering further down the hallway, some unrecognizable morsel of filth clutched in its jaws.

A large bloodstain met her empty gaze, reminding her of the last time she had come here, in search of Rei. All she had found was an ambush, and many had died. It was not surprising that NERV had not bothered to scrub the walls and floor; no one lived here anymore. It was precisely that knowledge that brought Asuka back here. She would be alone, and NERV would never have anticipated her return to this decrepit residence.

Footsteps echoed in the stairwell down the hall, pulling Asuka from her misery as she instinctively snatched a pistol from her waist and came up to a defensive crouch. The door opened, and a dark figure stalked through the shadows in her direction.

Just hours ago, Asuka would not have given a second thought before firing, but now she hesitated, reluctant to end another life without absolute necessity. She peered into the darkness, struggling to discern the identity of the figure. It spoke with a strained, yet somehow familiar voice.

"Asuka…"

The mysterious visitor moved within range of the hall's dim, flickering lights, and Asuka identified him with a start.

"Sh… Shinji…"

He seemed drained and nervous, walking in an awkward gait, glazed eyes staring at nothing in particular. Asuka perceived a slight tremor that shook his entire body, varying in intensity from moment to moment. Light glinted briefly off an object in his hand, and as he approached the light revealed a semi-rusted metal pipe hanging limply at his side.

"How… how are you alive?" Asuka murmured, to herself as much as she was asking him.

He did not answer her, simply stalking toward her with the same expressionless face and glazed eyes.

"Asuka…"

A sudden grimace of pain flashed across his face, and the pipe dropped to the ground. He staggered back a few steps, clutching at his head.

"Nooo," he moaned. "No! I won't!"

The pain must have intensified, for he flinched as if someone had struck him and fell to the ground, writhing.

"Get out!" he hissed. "Get out of my head! Stop it! I won't! You can't make me! I won't do it! GET OUT!"

His whole body jerked spasmodically, thrashing back and forth. Bits of shattered concrete scratched his flesh in several places, but he didn't seem to notice. His back arched, veins bulging out on his neck and forehead as he screamed.

"FATHER!"

Apparently spent, he fell into a motionless silence. But for the slight rise and fall of his chest and the occasionally choking sound as his throat caught, he almost appeared dead.

Asuka hurried to his side, cradling him in her arms. She peered at him in concern, not with the vengeful eyes of an experienced killer, but with the soft expression of a young woman concerned for another's well-being. She did not know how or why he had survived, or even how he had managed to find her, but she did not care.

"Shinji…" she whispered. "Are you okay?"

His eyes flickered slightly, opening just enough for her to make out his dilated pupils.

"Asuka…" he rasped, scarcely louder than a whisper. "I'm… s… sorry…"

His eyelids slid closed, and he went completely limp. Asuka could not even sense his breathing any more.

"Shinji… No, Shinji!"

She shook his body, desperate for some sign that he was still alive, that he hadn't finally abandoned her after all these years, just like everyone else.

"Shinji! Answer me, damn you! Shinji! Wake up! Shinji! Please-"

Strong hands clasped around her throat, constricting her breathing and ending her pleas mid-sentence. Shinji's eyes shot open, resuming their glazed, emotionless gaze at nothing in particular.

Asuka grasped at his wrists, struggling to pry his arms away from her neck, but he gripped her tender throat with surprising strength. He forced her to the ground, pressing his weight down on top of her as he continued to strangle her with his bare hands.

Asuka managed to thrash upward, her forehead colliding with that of her aggressor, but while the impact conjured a flash of blackness and pinpoints of light across her vision, it had little to no effect on Shinji.

Rather than recovering, her vision only blurred further as her brain began to shut down from asphyxiation. Lungs burning, she groped desperately for a weapon, realizing with dismay that she had abandoned her sword and other equipment when she had rushed to his side. If she glanced to the left she could see them lying inert and useless just a few meters away, but as far as practicality was concerned they may as well have not been there at all.

Having run out of options, Asuka considered resigning herself to her imminent death. Perhaps it would be better that way after all. But first, she had one last card to play.

Reaching up, Asuka stroked Shinji's cheek. His grip softened a bit, and she managed to lean up and press her lips to his. Something flickered in his eyes for an instant, and the vice around her trachea relaxed enough for her to catch one ragged breath and twist to the side enough to plant one foot against the wall before her throat was constricted again. It wasn't much, but she had bought herself a bit more time and maneuvering room.

Asuka stretched her leg out further than she ever had before, ignoring the pain in her knee as she planted her heel firmly against the concrete wall. The broken concrete cracked and disintegrated beneath her shoe, threatening to dislodge her tentative foot brace, but she was able to hold her position and kick off against the wall with all the strength her oxygen-deprived muscles could muster.

Her sudden movement succeeded in rolling Shinji over on his back, but his hands did not dislodge from her neck, pulling her over on top of him. However, she was able to put her increased mobility and gravitational advantages to good use, pummeling his chest and stomach with the most vicious punches she could land in her condition. Still, he did not seem to notice, even when she hammered him in the face, leaving large, red welts and bruises. She realized her efforts weren't helping, and through her darkening vision all she could manage to do was clench her hands around his throat in turn.

To her surprise, he released his hands from her neck and moved to grab her wrists defensively. She yanked them out of reach, driving an elbow into his ribs before hopping off his chest. A fist collided with her stomach before she could get completely away, and she staggered back, coughing and gasping for air. She eyed her weapons momentarily, but she would have to get past Shinji to retrieve them, and if he caught hold of her she knew she wouldn't have the strength to fight him off again. She was out of time; he was already climbing to his feet, the large metal pipe in hand. She barely managed to duck a powerful swipe, and the blunt metal crashed loudly into the wall nearby, punching a fresh, baseball-sized crater in the grimy surface.

Turning away, Asuka fled from the Third Child down the hallway to the stairs, rushing down the stairwell as fast as her battered, winded body would allow. She winced as a sharp pain jolted through her side, and wondered for a moment if she perhaps had a cracked rib. But there was no time to stop and check. She had to get out of here; if she didn't, one of them was going to end up dead, and while the prospect of dying was not particularly pleasant, she did not relish the idea of killing Shinji, either. Something was wrong, she knew. He did not really want to fight her. Something was compelling him, driving him to attack her against his will.

Wrapped up in her thoughts, Asuka did not notice the damaged step until it was too late and she had already stepped on it. Her foot skidded in the broken concrete, and tired muscles could not react in time to compensate before she stumbled awkwardly down the last few steps, landing hard on her left knee and rump. The sound of Shinji's pounding footsteps followed her down the stairwell, and as she saw him rounding the flight just above her, Asuka scrambled to her feet and pushed through the nearby doorway, neither knowing nor caring what floor she was on.

"AAAAAASSSUUUUUKAAAA…" Shinji roared as he pursued her down the stairs. His voice sounded raspy and inhuman, as if the words were being pulled from his vocal cords by someone other than himself.

The Second Child found herself in the old apartment complex's parking garage, and she had taken no more than a half dozen steps into its interior before slipping in a small, viscous puddle of black fluid that had most likely been oil at one time. Her feet slid out from under her, and she crashed painfully to the ground. Her head rebounded off the hard surface, and for several long moments she lacked the clarity of mind to get to her feet. Still, she managed to recover her wits quickly enough to stagger to her feet and take cover behind a nearby pillar as the door she had just entered through slammed open and Shinji stormed into the garage.

"AAAAAAASSSSSSSUUUKKAAAA!" he howled again, the unnatural scream clearly dripping with pain and anguish. His eyes still held the same detached stare, but now the rest of his face was twisted with what could only be described as pure, unbridled rage, an untainted hate directed at nothing in particular.

A small chunk of debris shifted beneath Asuka's foot, emitting a scratching sound that echoed throughout the quiet garage. Shinji paused, scanning for her presence. Only a few traces of sunlight from narrow, slitted windows lit the interior, and much of it was enveloped in deep gloom.

Shinji held completely still, closing his eyes as if concentrating on something. Moments later, he opened them again, then turned to face directly toward Asuka's hiding place, as if he knew exactly where she was. He stalked in her direction, raising the pipe menacingly.

Shinji, Asuka thought. What have they done to you?

This was it, then. She had no choice. She could not run any more, not against such a seemingly tireless opponent. She already felt fatigued and sore, but Shinji showed no signs of even a slight discomfort. She had to do it. She had to kill Shinji.

It would be a mercy killing, she told herself. He was not himself. Earlier, he had been so sad and miserable, begging her to kill him. Now he didn't even seem human anymore.

"There's no choice," she murmured, hefting a sizable piece of broken asphalt from the debris at her feet. "No… choice."

She steeled herself for the deed, waiting anxiously as Shinji's footsteps drew nearer. At the last moment she spun out to face him, ducking the expected swing of the pipe. She bent low and shifted backward, putting a bit of distance between herself and Shinji as it collided with the pillar where her head had been, smashing deep into the crumbling support. Shinji's feats of excessive strength only added to Asuka's notion that he was no longer human.

Backing away from her opponent, Asuka hurled the lump of asphalt at Shinji's head. The rock collided squarely with his temple, shattering into smaller pieces and knocking him back, but he quickly regained his footing. Aside from the dust on his face and shoulder and a few small cuts on his forehead, it was as if nothing had ever happened.

Shinji charged forward again, lashing out at Asuka's midsection, but she jumped back out of range. She avoided several more strikes, searching her surroundings for anything she might use as a weapon. She dodged aside from yet another powerful hit, but it clipped her right hip and spun her around, sending her stumbling forward. She collided hard against a wooden surface, then forced herself to rise back to her feet, grasping hold of a cold, steel handle to pull herself up. She paused.

Wood? Handle?

For a moment she almost forgot to dodge, throwing herself aside at the last second as Shinji's pipe smashed into the rotted wood, reducing the brittle old door to splinters.

Asuka hurled herself at him, slamming into his back with her full body weight. Combined with the forward momentum he already possessed, the young man was easily thrown off balance, crashing through the broken remnants of the door to impact against a row of tall, steel shelves.

Pulling herself away before he could recover and grab hold of her again, Asuka carefully made her way over to the far corner and crouched, listening to the sounds of Shinji thrashing blindly around in the dark, knocking various objects off the shelves in a cacophony of ringing metal and shattering glass.

Asuka used the opportunity to search the floor around her with her hands, groping for something she might employ as a weapon. Just as she had suspected, they now found themselves inside a large maintenance closet, and there would surely be something she could make use of.

Her fingers encountered something, and further inspection revealed that it seemed to be some sort of mechanical tool, perhaps a drill or other handled instrument. She began to wrap her hand around it as a series of loud cranks emanated from the far side of the room, followed by the unmistakable roar of a gas-powered chainsaw.

Sparks cut faintly through the shadows as Shinji flailed about in search of her flesh, dragging the whirring blade indiscriminately across the metallic shelves and their contents with a grinding shriek. Again he seemed to instinctively know exactly where she was, for as soon as he had cleared the row of shelves between them he made a beeline for her corner hiding place, ripping through the concrete she had been leaning against as she threw herself aside. The squeal of metal on metal filled her ears as Shinji twisted to follow, dragging the chainsaw blade unheedingly across another set of shelves. The flickering light exposed her to his sight, and he lunged at her more accurately as she ducked and rolled through a large bottom shelf to the relative safety of the next aisle over. Shinji thrust the chainsaw through the shelves straight at her midsection, and she barely managed to throw herself back in time to avoid being cut in half.

Several teeth of the blade seemed to catch on something, and the engine coughed abrasively, struggling against the force that held it in place. The strain was too much for the old, poorly-maintained equipment, and the chain snapped with a squeal and a fresh shower of sparks, lashing a bloody line across Shinji's chest.

Asuka took advantage of the brief respite and the fading light to glance at the instrument in her hand. She did not recognize it at first, but even as the darkness enshrouded her once more her intuition told her to flick the small switch she had spotted on the side of the handle. At first nothing happened, but after several more attempts she finally managed to ignite a small pilot light, and she recognized the implement for what it was: a blowtorch.

Enthralled with her discovery, Asuka barely managed to dodge as Shinji lashed out through the shelves again with the hooked end of a hammer, receiving a large gash across her cheek as punishment for her inattentiveness. She looked away and ignited the torch reflexively, blinding Shinji and forcing him back from the flame.

In the dim glow of the pilot light, Asuka spotted small cluster of red containers, stacked neatly just a few meters away. A quick examination with her nostrils confirmed their most probable contents: gasoline. A fraction of a second later, Asuka had a plan.

His dark vision temporarily destroyed, Shinji struck out blindly in search of her, smashing the hammer into anything he encountered. Asuka slipped aside, cranking the pilot light up to full capacity, and hurled the blowtorch across the room, backpedaling for the door. For a brief moment, it flickered and seemed as if it might go out, but it recovered just in time. The tool was hardly aerodynamic and the throw was not perfect, but it caught the spills and fumes in close proximity to the canisters. Asuka dove out through the open doorway as the fuel ignited, exploding in a burst of heat and sound.

She lay still on the garage floor, listening carefully, but she could hear nothing but the crackling of flames and the occasional shifting of objects as they or their supports were consumed by the fire. She relaxed slightly, certain that there was no way anyone could have survived. But she had to make sure. Until she saw Shinji's corpse for herself, she could not take anything for granted, no matter how unpleasant the prospect might be.

Rolling over, Asuka began to sit up- and froze. Shinji Ikari stood in the doorway, framed by the fires in the room beyond. His clothes and hair were blackened, and smoke drifted off as if he were still smoldering, which, for all Asuka knew, he was. Aside from that, and a large patch of red, blistered skin on his shoulder, visible through a charred hole in his shirt, he looked very much alive, and the large hand axe in his grip suggested he remained undeterred in his intentions as well.

Asuka squirmed to the side, barely managing to evade his downward stroke, and the axe clattered against the ground just inches from her face, sending sharp bits of asphalt to bite sharply along her cheek. His other hand came forward to clamp around her neck, and he raised the axe for the finishing blow.

Desperate, Asuka grabbed the only thing available, a splintered piece of the maintenance closet door, and thrust it into his chest. For the first time, Asuka heard him groan, and the axe faltered as his face registered pain. She felt it too, just as surely as if she had plunged the spike into her own flesh. But she forced herself to hurry, not just for her own survival, but to end his suffering quickly. She could see the conflict in his face, the struggle between what he wanted and what his body was forcing him to do. She grasped another piece of wood, driving it into his chest more accurately. She could have sworn it pierced his heart, yet he remained alive.

Several more followed, and each time he seemed more himself, his grip on her throat weakening. The axe dropped uselessly to the ground, and with a final moan he fell still.

Asuka reeled as she felt despair welling up within her chest, the depths of which she had never before experienced, not even after her mother died. No longer able to summon forth the hardened killer thirsting for revenge, she was left with nothing but the shattered little girl who had just killed perhaps the only person who had ever truly cared for her. Exhausted, she pressed her back against the wall, sliding down the hard surface until her rump jarred against the floor, and cried.

Asuka cried until she could no longer call forth the tears. Physically and emotionally spent, she slumped over on her side in a heap. Her face pressed into a filthy, shallow puddle, but she paid it no mind, even as the cold, murky water flowed into the recesses of her right nostril, and she slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Asuka awoke from her troubled sleep to find herself freezing in her damp clothes, her face no longer partially submerged as much of the puddle in which she lay had been absorbed by her attire. Teeth chattering, she sat up against the wall, huddling around her body in a desperate attempt to gain some warmth, however minimal it may be.

She could still feel the tears, dried and clinging to her cheek, but no more would come forth. She felt hollow, empty. Drained.

"Greetings, Asuka Langley Sohryu," a boy's voice called out from the shadows.

Asuka jerked upright, poised uneasily to haul her aching body to its feet if necessary.

"Wh-who's there?" she asked warily, her teeth chattering. "Sh-show yours-self."

A gray-haired young man stepped out of the darkness, grinning amicably.

"My name is Kaoru Nagisa," he responded, his red eyes gleaming in the dim light. "At least, that is the name you Lillum have given me this time. Or perhaps you'd rather call me Judas? But then, even that is not my true name, but unfortunately there is no way to translate it into any of your Lillum tongues."

"Wh-what do you want?" Asuka stammered, the uncertainty in her voice tinged by impatience.

Kaoru did not stop smiling, but something changed in his expression, something imperceptible, yet the effect on the intensity of his countenance was unmistakable. He seemed to radiate urgency to such a degree that even Asuka, in her terribly distraught condition, could feel it, only adding to her agitation.

"Forgive me, I do seem to have a tendency to prattle," he replied. "What I want from you is simple: I want you to end my life."

Asuka sputtered for a moment, finding herself unable to form a coherent statement. This boy wanted her… to kill him? The sudden confusion only added to her emotional turmoil, and she felt herself nearing the breaking point.

"Your Lillum manuscripts would have me take my own life in anguish over my betrayal," Kaoru continued, stepping closer to the vulnerable-looking young woman. "But ultimately the terms of my demise are up to me. I believe it would be fitting, poetic even, to meet my end at your hands, considering what I've done to our beloved Shinji."

Asuka clamped her hands over her ears, shaking her head fervently.

"No…" she murmured, her voice slowly rising in intensity. "No… no… no!"

Yet even through her distress she felt a hint of anger deep within her. The strange inner voice, after its strange absence during her ordeal, began to whisper in her head. It seemed muffled at first, as though speaking from far away or through a barrier, but gradually it increased in volume.

Kill him, it urged. Claim vengeance for Shinji's death.

The ceiling above her seemed to ripple for a moment, and an assortment of objects tumbled through, as if melting through the concrete, clattering to the floor at her side. It was her equipment, previously abandoned in the upper-level hallway during her desperate escape from the deranged Shinji Ikari.

"You have your tools, master artisan," Kaoru urged, his voice rising as he stalked toward her. "Ply your craft. Death and destruction are your talents, your destiny. Take up your brush, your pen, your chisel. Start here, now, with me. Cut me down and seize your destined path. Paint the world in a tapestry of blood!"

Asuka whimpered, struggling desperately to block him out, to no avail. It was as if he was inside her skull, transferring his words directly to her mind. She could not escape it.

"Kill me!" he hissed. "It is your talent. It is your gift. Take up your sword and slay me. Embrace your destiny!"

Asuka shrank into herself. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she sank into her own consciousness, desperately searching, hoping, pleading for something to arise and save her.

Something pulsed within her. The tears stopped abruptly, and it was as if a dam had broken within her psyche. The inner voice, no longer muffled, swelled up into the forefront of her mind, crying out for blood, calling for her to grasp the sword and plunge it through his flesh. A warmth spread through her stiff and aching limbs, revitalizing her flesh, just as a sudden surge of confidence and energy reawakened her mind and spirit. She felt the bloodlust simmering in of her mind, and she used it to bury the whimpering little girl inside, still frightened and begging her to end the bloodshed, beneath torrents of her hatred and rage.

Almost unconsciously, her grip closed around the hilt of the sword, and she drew the blade from its sheath, her lips curling in a malicious grin. Kaoru loomed over her, his eyes glistening with anticipation.

Without hesitation, Asuka thrust the katana into his stomach. Kaoru grunted, coughing bloody spittle onto her cheek, and his smile widened. He pressed in closer, sliding further onto the blade until he pressed against the hilt, his face inches away from Asuka's.

"Yes. Now finish me. Rend my flesh. Spill my blood. It is what you were born to do."

Asuka twisted the blade, tilting it horizontally, then slashed out through his side. She could feel the blade scrape along his lower ribs as it tore out through the side of his body, carving a long gash through which several organs and other soft tissues spilled out. Kaoru slumped down on top of Asuka, his blood further staining her clothing a deep crimson. It seemed to be her color.

Wiping the blade clean on Kaoru's body, Asuka returned the Hanzo sword to its sheath. She gazed dispassionately down at the corpse, feeling nothing for the life she had just taken. She felt empty again, numb, save for the overriding impulses of loathing and revenge.

We will kill him, the voice assured her. Together.

Asuka paused for a moment, pondering that statement, oblivious to the ease with which she had accepted the fact that she was hearing voices. Her deliberations lasted only a moment before she had decided on a course of action. Gendou Ikari must die, and there was but one way to ensure it. She would head for NERV Headquarters immediately, and anyone who dared to block her path would face annihilation.

"Yes," Asuka agreed, further burying her weeping inner child beneath her hatred. "Together."

* * *

"So the body of the Fifth Child has been recovered," Fuyutsuki muttered, glancing up at his frowning superior who had just handed him the report, trying to figure out why Commander Ikari was in such a dour mood. "Then should I assume the lamb has been slaughtered, since the messenger has departed for the void?"

"Not quite," Gendou replied. "The Third Child still lives."

Fuyustsuki raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps she is not the one, then?"

Gendou shook his head.

"The machinations of fate are seldom so readily apparent. There is still one more trial to determine once and for all if she is the one we seek. However, it will require her… cooperation."

Fuyutsuki frowned.

"And how exactly do you intend to obtain that? We don't even know her current location, and I doubt she'd be very cooperative if we did."

Gendou smiled faintly, his expression easing from the simmering, almost imperceptible anger that few people besides a long-term associate like Fuyutsuki would have detected.

"It is simple, old friend. Soon she will come to us. Very soon, indeed."

xxxxxxxEND OF CHAPTERxxxxxxx

Heeheehee… Shinji. Oh, man. I'd say I was pretty nice to him personality-wise by making him not so twisted and evil as I could have, if not nice to him personally by what I put him through… but hey. He needed a break from all those romance fics where he gets to bang Asuka/Rei/Misato/Hikari/Maya/Mana/Ritsuko/Kaoru(eww)/whoever, or the other fics where he's the hero and overcomes the odds to save the day.

So… good? Bad? Or are you just thinking, "What kind of sick, fucked up mind would think of something like this?" 'Cause that would be sweet. Anyway, let me know what you think.

The next chapter… could be the last one. Maybe. Who knows? I don't. But Gendou will be in it, and Fuyutsuki, and Asuka, and some random people whose sole purpose is to be killed horribly for the amusement of readers like you. Doesn't that just make you feel special?


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